Hello Charles,
Congrats, I like these barung!
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One has a very nice pattern welded blade, but it is the hilt that is of particular interest. It is carved in floral motifs throughout. I have never a barong hilt finished in this style. The hilt is octagonal, which I typically associate with later pieces and perhaps Tausig(??), but the blade and ferrule don't seem to be of later quality, but instead seem standard to what we would expect from late 19th to early 20th century pieces.
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Maybe not the finest carving quality but still very nice and rare! I have no doubts this being a genuine late 19th c. barung.
I am adding pics (from Erik) of another barung with octagonal hilt; carving is of a somewhat different style though.
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I am not sure we will ever know if the carving was intended from the beginning or was an afterthought, but comments and opinions are welcomed.
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If the carving was not original, the fit of the silver sleeve would not be as good IMHO.
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The second barong's blade is of interest. It is of homogenous steel with a thickened ridge about midway through the blade and shows two parallel lines of "hamon". Normally I would associate this thickening in the blade with a shandigan blade, but the ridge on this blade starts much further away from the edge then is the norm. I have included an example for comparison.
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Is the ridge really the thickest section of the blade? Typical shandigan blades are usually hollow ground between the ridge and the back of the blade; this one looks more like flat ground?
Please post close-ups of both blades. Neat hardening job on the second (if not laminated)!
Regards,
Kai