Go on... show us your Barung!!!

[Rick]

I don't think things 'were pacified' with the Muslim tribes in the southern Philippines until the mid-late thirties pre-war with the advent of Japanese invasion.
The sporadic violence still continues to this day.
An acquaintance of mine's son was murdered on a diving trip in the area a couple of years ago.

[ariel]

Couple of months ago there were 3 barungs offered by a respectable auction house. Two were very handsome, and went for ~$1,500 ( as far as I remember).
The third one was very simple and even had no scabbard. But it has a yellowed paper glued to the blade with genuinely old inscription:

" Barong of the savage Moro. Taken from the Mag sabil devil Mahamet by Scout at Parang (a town on the main island of Sulu)and given to Sgt. Brewster, 1907".

Nobody bid on it, even though its expected price was $1,000 and starting price much lower.

Well, some people collect esthetically pleasing pieces. And that's fine. But I kind of cannot understand why would they pass on a true piece of history....


I sent the address to Ian: I am not good manipulating images; hopefully he can give us an idea of what a true killing barung looked like.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by ariel

Couple of months ago there were 3 barungs offered by a respectable auction house. Two were very handsome, and went for ~$1,500 ( as far as I remember).
The third one was very simple and even had no scabbard. But it has a yellowed paper glued to the blade with genuinely old inscription:

"Barong of the savage Moro. Taken from the Mag sabil devil Mahamet by Scout at Parang (a town on the main island of Sulu) and given to Sgt. Brewster, 1907".

Nobody bid on it, even though its expected price was $1,000 and starting price much lower.

Well, some people collect aesthetically pleasing pieces. And that's fine. But I kind of cannot understand why would they pass on a true piece of history....

I sent the address to Ian: I am not good manipulating images; hopefully he can give us an idea of what a true killing barung looked like.

The barung to which Ariel refers has subsequently been sold by the auction house (no price indicated). Here are pictures of this handsome 19th C. weapon that likely killed at least a few Americans and their Filipino allies.

The blade is approximat4ly 18.5 inches in length, which was fairly long for the period. It is clearly a cutting and a stabbing weapon. The hilt has a minimal kakatua pommel that is found on many fighting barung.

.

[ariel]

Thanks Ian!

[ariel]

Originally Posted by Rick

I don't think things 'were pacified' with the Muslim tribes in the southern Philippines until the mid-late thirties pre-war with the advent of Japanese invasion.
The sporadic violence still continues to this day.
An acquaintance of mine's son was murdered on a diving trip in the area a couple of years ago.

Years ago I saw a TV program dealing with the situation in Moro lands. Political violence was still in full blast. It was led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Liberation Front with ~12,000 fighters. We are not talking about isolated incidents. Many Moros joined ISIS.


And they apparently won: in 2014 they signed a peace agreement with the central government and their elected government is planned to be established in 2022.

What social/political course will it take is still unknown, but a big cause for concern for the entire SE Asia.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by ariel

Years ago I saw a TV program dealing with the situation in Moro lands. Political violence was still in full blast. It was led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Liberation Front with ~12,000 fighters. We are not talking about isolated incidents. Many Moros joined ISIS.

And they apparently won: in 2014 they signed a peace agreement with the central government and their elected government is planned to be established in 2022.

What social/political course will it take is still unknown, but a big cause for concern for the entire SE Asia.

I visited southern Mindanao, Zamboanga, and Basilan in the late 1990s. I was accompanied by locals and only went where I was told I could go safely. Westerners were being kidnapped at that time and held for ransom. Some did not make it out. On a couple of ventures into the rural areas around Davao City I had an escort of Philippine soldiers. In the early 2000s there was the added concern about Abu Sayyaf, a group loosely linked to Al Quaeda.

Quite apart from the long time practice of piracy in the South China Sea, the Bangsamoro region has always been a tense and dangerous area for outsiders. The local politics are diverse, with internal conflicts, but are unified in opposition to outside interference. The struggle for self rule has played out for centuries, with increasing emphasis in the last 120 years and especially since WWII.

[xasterix]

Got this barung from Mr Cecil Quirino's collection. My oldest barung so far. It's remarkably well-preserved. It's highly similar to the Leiden barung that was discussed in an old topic here. I fixed the misaligned blade and bent edge; other than that, it's in very good condition.

18-in blade with sandigan/shandigan edge, kamagong hilt, carabao horn pommel, a long ferrule with some sort of brass alloy.

[thomas hauschild]

After etching the blade slightly. Unluckily one of the MOP-pieces is missing. I needed to add the top 4 cm of the rattan on the scabbard. I very happy with this find.

Best Thomas

[JeffS]

I had been looking for the right barong for a couple of years, a few months back I finally found one. The blade was very rusty but cleaned up nice outside of some pitting. The ferule is very thick silver. Below is a more recent purchase.

[xasterix]

Nice barungs, gentlemen! It still amazes me just how many variants and personal effects barungs can have through the different eras and locations in the Sulu archipelago.

It's almost been a year, so I'm necro'ing this thread again here's my all-time favorite barung, a variant with an upper clipped edge. It is WW2-era, and I reset it just recently.