Barung from Baltimore

[Spunjer]

for years, i've been looking for a barung similar to this. not only are they hard to find, but when they do pop up, it's normally four figures...
well, my search is over. picked one up in Baltimore among European sabers. since it wasn't in the best condition, mr. seller decided to sell it for a song. whoever tried to fix it decided to use gorilla glue, and for some reason, decided to shave the ukkil at the bottom. fortunately whoever did it decided to leave a small part of the ukkil design intact.

[Spunjer]

so first order of the day was to etch it....
blade is high quality, most likely chinese made. it has a real faint chopmark on side.
pleasantly surprised to see patterns pop out. what got me is the somewhat similar to a katana's hamon.

[Spunjer]

so finally it's back to it's former glory. ivory fixed, blade etched and metal shined. even found an extra scabbard that fit. it's just a matter re-wrapping it with rattan binds. as a plus, i found out using Weiman Silver Polish on ivory brings out the luster...

[David]

Very nice Ron, congrats.
Nice restoration as well...

[Spunjer]

thanks. normally, i'm not a big proponent of making up an ukkil just to make it complete. luckily, a set was left off close to the pommel and it's just a matter of repeating the pattern.

[Spunjer]

iskender, not necessarily. in the jungle, it's counter-intuitive to have a shiny blade. on some of the blades, they even have patterns, much like an indonesian keris. i'm posting one as an example. as far as barungs, kris and such, they weren't washed like the keris, although back in the old day, i was told that coconut oil was used to these blades. over time it etches the blade, bringing out the pattern. nowadays the most common acid that's used to bring out the pattern is your household vinegar...

[iskender]

good evening, in mind that till now every barongblade i encounterd in its original condition it was polished like hell. i have read that by certain weapons as barongs, kamilans and the moro-keris it was the pride of the maker to polish them up so highly as possible. in thirty years looking at barongs in the netherlands not one was etched.I do not understand where this idee comes from to treat these barongblades with acids?they are not kerisblades which where washed in a ritual with a purpose. in my opinion they where always clean, sturdy and glittering in the sun. Maybe someone knows more details. thanks iskender

[David]

Originally Posted by iskender

good evening, in mind that till now every barongblade i encounterd in its original condition it was polished like hell. i have read that by certain weapons as barongs, kamilans and the moro-keris it was the pride of the maker to polish them up so highly as possible. in thirty years looking at barongs in the netherlands not one was etched.I do not understand where this idee comes from to treat these barongblades with acids?

Iskender, this has been a question amongst collectors for a long time now. I am not sure if you have travelled to the Philippines or not, but it is difficult to tell exactly what is "original condition" of blades once they have left their native lands. Western collectors often polish blades because it is the way THEY think they should be treated. So i am personally uncertain what the general rule of thumb was for the Moro. If you search there are, unfortunately, very few photographs that show Moro warriors with their blades exposed. This is one of the few images i can find online and while the quality of the image is not that good it does seem apparent that this datu is not holding a kris that is in high polish.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by David

Iskender, this has been a question amongst collectors for a long time now. I am not sure if you have travelled to the Philippines or not, but it is difficult to tell exactly what is "original condition" of blades once they have left their native lands. Western collectors often polish blades because it is the way THEY think they should be treated. So i am personally uncertain what the general rule of thumb was for the Moro. If you search there are, unfortunately, very few photographs that show Moro warriors with their blades exposed. This is one of the few images i can find online and while the quality of the image is not that good it does seem apparent that this datu is not holding a kris that is in high polish.

This kriss has clearly been (heavily) etched. The etching has exposed the tempered edges and the silver inlay towards the forte(and perhaps down the blade...hard to tell). Certainly a fuller has become more obvious. Also note that the baca-baca have been heavily polished to accentuate them against the dark etch. This photo has intrigued me for some time because it shows a blade that is far more heavily etched than we may consider the Moro norm. It's really almost more in line with an Indonesian etch, but no doubt done to highlight its other embellishments. It really makes me wonder if Moro blades might encompass the spectrum of bright to dark, depending on the bladesmith or the owner's desires.