Something for some of you to drool over.
 

Wish it were mine.......

Really nice twistcore!

Sutton Hoo Moro Sword
 

Bought this sword about six months ago. The pattern is almost exactly that of the Sutton Hoo burial sword. It's interesting that two cultures 1500 years and halfway around the world could come up with identical blade patterning................Dave.

I am drooling, thanks for sharing.

Michael

very nice piece of work there
 

David,
Do you have images of the reverse side?
Nice find there.....you have a good eye.

Ric

I almost shorted out my keyboard with drool!! :D
Dave, that is awesome, you are the Indiana Jones of Moro swords.

Can you give us any more information on it?
Do you have any ideas as two province and/or age?
Did it come from somewhere in the US or elsewhere?

It be intresting to see if these twist cores can be traced to an area or even a smith. Given the difficulty of doing the pattern welding I don't think there where many smiths doing it.

It looks like 7-9 bar composite twist. 7 bar twist with two outer bars for the edge. Reminds me of the Turkish ribbon pattern seen on some yataghans

Lew

I see the twists but what are the straight lines? Were the twisted bars intermittently twisted, so there would be say 5-7 twists an untwisted portion and then more twists? I have not seen that before. Very nice.
Josh

I love the twist core and the other stuff like the ivory and coin silver. Looks Maranao and I also like the rounding of the holes in the end of the ganga (the ron do).

Mike: I bought this kris from a dealer in Reno, Nevada, who in turn bought it from a dealer in L.A. I'll see the original dealer next month at the militaria show at the L.A. fairgrounds, and i'll try to remember to find out where he got it, although most dealers are sometimes reluctant to give out their sources. This is the only one i have ever seen with this saxon/early viking pattern. I do have two yahtagans with twistcore patterns, one a four layer twist the other with a six layer twist. These twist patterns though are nothing like the interupted twist on this kris. The closest thing i have seen is the Sutton Hoo burial sword and i really was amazed at the similarity. As far as i can tell, they are about 98% exactly the same. As i stated earlier, you have two cultures, the Saxons and the Moros. These two are separated by 1500 years and many thousands of miles and yet they produce almost the same pattern..................Dave

Jose: I think you are definitly right. Maranao. Made sometime in the 1800s, but i'm not sure if early 1800 or more near the turn of the century. No doubt made for someone of high status.............Dave

Ric: The reverse side is the same as the side shown. They are mirror images of each other.............Dave

Dave, I would place it at early to mid 1800s on the blade. The silver mounts could be a little later but not sure.