Moro

[Flavio]

Hi all here is another moro kris that i have recently bought. PLease tell me if i'm correct: the scabbard has a nice end made of copper and brass (when i got it was sooo patineted that i was able to see only the copper on some little spots) is nice, but unfortunatly there are two strips of plastic (to me the threads laquered seem older) but maybe the entire scabbard is mid 20th century? The belt is made of nilon and some kind of cloth. The blade is laminated and the gangya is separated. The handle seems to me mindanao (maybe also the blade?), what is strange is the very pommel (copper with a kind of putty or glue in the middle) that seems a gunong guard?? but with a very similar okir decoration like the end of the scabbard (maybe also this part is a recent addition). Can you tell me if i'm totally wrong (that is possible ) and more what i have to do with the plastic strips on he scabbard and the belt? i'm thinking to cut them!
Thank you

[Flavio]

more

[Battara]

Now I understand better the pommel. Maybe copper, but I also wonder if it isn't swaasa! No not necessarily a gunong guard (though the middle is soldered together - ).

The scabbard end seems to be copper and brass. Testing can tell all the above for sure.

I also see traces of a separable ganga - a good sign of the blade being older.

[Flavio]

Hi Jose, do you think that is a good idea to cut the plastic on the scabbard and the belt? Do you think that the pommel could be old like the blade (and so also all the handle could be old)?

[kai]

Hello Flavio,

Since the elephant's lip is angled, I'm wondering wether this isn't a Sulu blade later fitted for local use with a Maguindanao scabbard. Also the 21" blade length wouldn't speak against such an attribution...

I think most scabbards currently coming out of the Philippines are likely to not be considerably older than 50 years: Any piece in actual use will get its scabbard modified, repaired, and replaced at the whim of its owner and heirloom items only kept in storage won't usually show up for low prices...

I don't have a problem with your suggestion to replace modern plastics used for repair with more traditional materials. However, I think in this case the modifications are genuine (i. e. made within the culture) and witnesses of actual use during modern times. If you decide to replace them, I'd suggest to store all removed stuff for future analysis rather than discarding it.

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Jose,

Could you please comment on the use of nails for fixing pommel plates? I've seen this quite a lot but wonder what the traditional approach to fix such plates would have been? Splints from the same material (like often used for wood/ivory of scabbards) might be an obvious choice but may not be durable enough for fixing thin pommel plates, especially if made from softer metals or relatively brittle material.

Regards,
Kai

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

I don't have a problem with your suggestion to replace modern plastics used for repair with more traditional materials. However, I think in this case the modifications are genuine (i. e. made within the culture) and witnesses of actual use during modern times. If you decide to replace them, I'd suggest to store all removed stuff for future analysis rather than discarding it.

Personally, even though i usual hate plastic on my pieces, i agree with Kai. This looks like a sword geared for ethnographic use. I think it would be a shame to alter the history of this sword by removing parts that were obviously in use by the culture in order to give it an overall older appearance. Clean it, etch it perhaps, but i would leave all the parts in place. It belongs to the history of the blade.