Nice Moro Gunong
 

Just picked up this sweet piece on ebay :)

Hi Lew,

congrats, very nice! :) Are the mounts from silver or silver plated? I have seen it as well but the auction was blocked in Germany. This is every time the case when something about the second world war is written in the description.

Regards,

Detlef

I don't have it in hand but will let you know when it shows up. My guess is that it's silver circa 1930s-40?

Look like silver, yes! Maybe a little bit older, Jose will know better. ;)

Thank you Sajen! Lew congrats! I think you are close regarding the time frame. The nice burled bulbous pistol grip form tells me it is from the 1920s at the earliest to the late 1930s at the latest. The size will also tell us more, since the larger sizes tend to be later as well (I think they replaced outlawed swords for a time).

Glad the fittings are silver. If true it may be Sulu. If plated, then it would probably be from Mindanao. If aluminum they would obviously be WWII.

The okir/ukkil work on the crossguard could also confirm Sulu or Mindanao.

Nice snag Lew. I'm glad you're the one that won it. Very nice piece. Sure looked like silver to me. Can't wait to see it polished up and etched!
Steve