Two Older Gunongs
 

Hello All,

I just got these two in the mail today, and snapped a few pictures. I'm really happy with them, though I wish the one had a sheath. I'm hoping to give that one a bit of a cleaning in the next few days.

I find a couple of these odd with them though

1) the non-waved-bladed one without a sheath has a hilt made of horn, with an inlaid design in copper wire. I haven't seen anything like this on an older one before. Do we have any other examples like this?

2) the non-waved-bladed one has an interesting guard, which seemed to be made of 2 or 3 layers. I don't recall seeing one like this before. It also has a little bit of copper wire wrapped around the ferrule.The seller says the ferrule and guard are iron, I'm reserving my judgement until after a cleaning

3) both blades are really thick, especially the wavy-bladed one (which also has a diamond cross section.

4) they both seem a bit larger than my other old ones. I'm including a couple of mini-family photos for comparison. does the larger size say anything about the age of these two new ones? Are they perhaps younger? Any estimates on the age of these two?

Any opinions on the above, or anything else on these two is very welcome.

Thanks,
Leif

Hi Leif:

The pics are really too dark to make out much detail. The top one (without a sheath) looks to have a guard made from repurposed iron, perhaps an item originally from a piece of machinery. I've seen similar materials used in WWII-era gunong before, so it's possible this one is WWII vintage. The second one looks a bit older and has a nice banati wood hilt with stripes (like seen on good quality barung, etc.).

Look forward to seeing more pics after you clean them up.

Ian.

Hi Leif,

nice pieces but like Ian I would like to see them by better light. The one with wood pommel is very nice, i am a little bit jealous! ;) :)
The one with horn handle is unusual, is the ferrule integral with the guard?

Regards,
Detlef

I am also in agreement with not just better lighting, but also larger pictures of each for details.

Hello All,

I took a few additional photos of the horn hilted one in the brief bit of day light that we had today. A few before I spent a bit of time working on the Iron ferule, with soap, water, and a little vinegar, and a few after (I have more work to do on it!). The ferrule does seem to be integral with the guard, or at least very securely attached to it.

I'm also going to include a couple of the sellers photos, he may be more photographically talented than I am!

Oh, and Detlef, if you are jealous of one of mine, I am jealous of dozens of yours. You have an encyclopedia of sword! Thank you regardless, I'm very happy with both of these.

Hopefully these pictures will help.

Thanks,
Leif