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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 470
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Hi All,
I'd like to know whether the three swords shown are kepings or barongs. Actually, I'm pretty sure the bottom one is a barong but the blade is so slender for its length (20.375" [51.7525cm] long by 2.5" [6.35cm] wide that I decided to add it to the group. The spine is also respectably thick at the hilt (5/16" [7.9375mm]). I really think the top sword is a keping and am not too sure one way or the other about the second one. Sincerely, RobT |
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#2 | |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 629
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#3 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 470
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xasterix,
Dang! I thought for sure the top one with that flattish part of the spine starting about half way toward the tip indicates that it is a keping. It looks as if telling a barong from a keping is rather tricky. Sincerely, RobT |
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#5 | |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 629
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That indeed is a keping! The interesting this is its provenance. According to my museum curator friend, at one point in time, Tugaya-dressed blades were considered a status symbol among the Lumad. So the Lumad chiefs either bought full swords, or had their Lumad blades-only dressed up in Tugaya. I think your sample jives with that- it may have been owned by Mandaya, but according to the brass style and the reversed guard (for some reason a lot of Tugaya blades had incorrectly-oriented guards), it's a Tugaya product as well. Nothing wrong with that, because once upon a time it was considered high status for the Lumads. It's also possible that a Maguindanaon married into a Maranao (or at least Lanao-based) family, and they had their old keping repaired / re-dressed in Tugaya. |
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 629
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Yup it's tricky. One of the helpful things to tell them apart is the hilt. Barung hilts have a different flavor vs keping hilts (whether original or re-make).
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#7 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,138
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A few more variants that might meet the definition of a Keping. These were posted previously in a thread "Modern Barung."
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#8 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 629
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