a newly purchased barong for review
 

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/maersk/330.jpg





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this was said to be a WW2 bringback. im not sure how old it is, or the moro tribe its ascribed to, samal? yakan? is it possible to tell what tribe this particular barong belonged to or when it was made/how old it is? the blade appears to have a (light) pattern in it and is 19 inches long and apparently still very sharp.....some of the wrap on the hilt seems to be missing..

Pallas

You are correct it is Samal and maybe older than WW2 here is one I picked up for comparison before and after restoration. The scabbard on yours seem WW2 but the sword itself seems older?

thanks! yea, i was told that it could have been made at any time between 1895 an 1930, so end of the 19th-early 20th century somewhere.

Early 20th c. sounds good to me (with later replaced scabbard). For better gripping, there seem to have been usually several bands of woven fiber placed along the barung grip area; however, the thread behind the ferrule is recent and I'd remove it.

Lew's example is 19th c. - nicely carved scabbard!

Regards,
Kai