Adding another barung to the thread...partially restored, had to plug holes and cracks on the c-horn. I'll be restoring the blade to full functionality soon. Taking a mugshot before it's fully live again :)

Wayne, as a physician let me translate this early 20th C "doctor's handwriting." :rolleyes:

From Moro Village
the(?) Island of Jolo
Bought by Col Bird(?)
April 4 1900

Hi Xas. Very nice old barung. The hilt looks Yakan to me--would you agree?

I agree - Yakan

Thanks for the assessment, Ian and Jose. I neglected to take a picture of the opposite side; here are post-restoration pics already. There's a Chinese chop-mark on that side. It supposedly translates as "to lead" or "leader," but further research is being done by a Chinese friend to confirm.

Because of the chop-mark I'd agree that it's Sulu archipelago, but not necessarily of Yakan make.

Xas,

Nice that it has a Chinese mark. The blade appears to have a nice laminated pattern with an inserted edge. Do you plan to etch it?

Ian.

Hi Ian, yup I've etched it. It's monosteel :)

Datu Barong
 

Hello Everyone,

Brand new member here and thank you for approving my account!

I'm quite new to collecting so I appreciate everyone's knowledge here and input. Here is my Barong with silver hilt and ivory pommel.

The scabbard seems to have been made later than the blade since it has a 1937 US coin. It is held together by nickle bands.

Would love to hear any feedback on where this Barong originated from on from what year.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum!

More pics and specs of the blade would be good.

The hilt and scabbard are likely Maranao work from after WWII.

The blade might also be Maranao but difficult to tell from the limited pics.

Regards,
Kai

Dimensions (length, width, thickness of blade and weight help too. Please show both sides of the blade/grip. and scabbard

Blades are often older than scabbards as they tended to drop their scabbards before a battle, and recover them after victory. If they lost, they didn't need it, the new owner could either get a new one made, or have a look to see where the previous owners dropped them & find one that fit. Even if the old owner won, he may have had a new one made if it were damaged or worn, or he wanted a more decorated one.

Hello everyone.

I’m new to the forum, this is my first post. I’ve been collecting barungs for a while, here are a few pics I’d like to share.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Welcome to the forum!

That's a neat collection for a start - especially the series of slender barung which all seem to hail from the first half of the 20th century.

The first looks like an antique blade in recent scabbard; some more pics would be good.

Do you know the maker of the last example?

Regards,
Kai

Also from me a welcome to the forum Pindang! :)

Nice collection of barungs. :cool:

Regards,
Detlef

Thank you. I’ll post more pics of the first example. Sorry, I don’t know who is the maker of the last piece.

Thank you Sir!

Kai, here are a few more pics of the first barung.

Thanks! Another nice example from the first half of the 20th century; the blade seems to be of above-average quality and could be an older, antique piece that got rehilted. The scabbard does seem to show some wear; it clearly exhibits modern craftsmanship though and will be a later replacement.


This looks much more recent overall. What does the writing on the scabbard say?

Regards,
Kai

Yes, I believe its the newest of the barungs i posted. its someones name and address written on the scabbard.

I'm not overly fond of the coloured electricians tape wraps, it has a bad habit of degenerating and coming loose, and then the glue is weak and doesn't stick to the tape - but sticks aggressively to the wood, staining it & is difficult to remove. I'd remove it and wrap it with rattan, or even string, possibly in colours like the tape, if you like that effect.

looks like the initials D.C. (or P.S.)

Thank you for the tips sir!

Suddenly in love with this "new" barung...

Only have two so far
 

I believe both of these to be early 1900’s late 1800’s, but would love thoughts as to age. The 2nd is from David’s collection.

I would agree with your assessment, with perhaps greater emphasis on late 19th C than early 20th C. Both barung have kakatua hits that occurred in the 19th C, the second one being a junggayan hilt of that period. The second example is a very good barung.


Does the first example have a shandigan blade? It's hard to tell from the pictures.

Barungs
 

Here are a few barungs from my collection.

😀 You only have a few? You need more.

I agree sir! 😎😜😊

Pindang,

Wow. What a lovely selection of older barung! You said "a few" of your barung. Do you have more of these beauties?

By any chance, do you have pictures of them on a white or lighter background? If so, would you mind posting those? I would like to archive pictures of these (mainly) 19th C examples, and the dark background makes the hilts hard to see.

Congratulations on having such a fine collection of these beautiful blades.

Ian.

Ian,

Yes I have more!

I’ll try and take some pictures for you with a lighter back ground this week.

Have a great day!

Sorry all for the late reply on this.

But had to move across the coast and then work occupied my time.
Here's more photos and specs:

Blade length - 13 1/2inches
Thickness - 3/16
Hilt - close to 6 inches

Total length - 19 inches from tip of the blade and tip of the ivory hilt.

Perhaps that'll help to determine the provenance of it.

Thank you all!

This is a nice ivory Maranao barong. I did some restoration work on this. Glad it went to a loving owner!

Among us Filipino collectors, it's Mr pindang that has the most barungs, I'm betting :) He has a plethora of them!

Here are my latest barungs...a Sama barung with some initials on the scabbard plate and well-preserved rattan ferrule. 16in blade, hollow ground edge.

Then a barung entrusted to me by Ian, probably the best among my barungs right now...20.75in blade with sandigan edge. Wields really well, but with a beastly momentum on every cut.

Thank you sir! I love this Barong. What restoration work did you do?

Xas,


You are accumulating quite a collection of barung! I'm pleased you like the shandigan blade. As you say, it is quite a beast and longer than most shandigan. Look forward to hearing how it cuts for you.

Hello Jose,

Thanks for confirming! The blade is not easy to evaluate from the limited pics - do you think it also is Maranao or is it a recycled Sulu blade?

Regards,
Kai

Hello Kai,
Please let me know what other photographs does the forum need to better help identify my blade? I'll be more than happy to take them for everyone so it can be evaluated.

Thanks
Ira

A full-length photograph with the weapon on one side (see mine) would be great :)

Hello Ira,

Your pic of the whole piece in post #88 is not bad - a larger pic of the blade would be great (the one in post #110 is taken at an angle): Make sure though to minimize effects of wide angle lenses, especially mobile phone lenses easily result in distorted lines. If available, try a tele lens and keeping the lens exactly vertical above the center of the blade; utilize only the middle of the pic for the part to be shown and later crop the high rez pic; try to keep as much size as well as resolution as possible! (The forum software now accepts quite large pics - more than is stated in the old rules...)

Both sides of the blade, please. And a view on the top (back of the blade) to see the distal taper would be kind. Sometimes a close-up of the base of the blade as well as closer to the tip reveals additional details.

BTW, Jose, did you try to etch this blade? Any laminations?

Barung blades are quite tough to evaluate from pics and handling them gives you much more data for any attribution. Thus, it would be great to hear Jose's thoughts on this blade, too!

Regards,
Kai

Thank you everyone for the guidance.

Here's some additional photos. Please let me know if you guys need more angles.

Once I get a better camera I'll use it when taking photos, for now I'm only using my iPhone.

Thanks
Ira

Regarding restoration, I made the ivory tail from scratch and the silver nail that helps keep it in place. Also I re-attached the middle ivory plug on top and refitted the blade and pommel.

Regarding attribution, this style of barong (and especially the okir) are Maranao. There are some other examples (which I would have to look up). It is true that the Maranao are not generally known for their barongs, I think this is a later development, like in the early 20th century. Is the blade Maranao or Sulu? - will have to look into that.