Upper class Datu ivory, swassa, and silver barong

Battara · 30th June 2024, 05:17 AM

Greetings folks,

I acquired this from Rsword months ago. It was on my wish list. It is an upper class datu Sulu barong. The pommel is ivory, the hilt made of silver, silver woven bands, and bands of swassa.

The blade is laminated with a tiny round opening on one part of the edge. What is nice is that it has the original carved Tausug scabbard.

I have only seen 5 of these - and the fifth is this one. The Metropolitan Museum in New York has one, but with a pieced pommel and a blade with silver inlays.

Enjoy.

Battara · 30th June 2024, 05:18 AM

Here are close ups of the scabbard and blade.

Battara · 30th June 2024, 05:21 AM

For comparison, here is the one from the Metropolitan Museum in New York. No scabbard is present for this example.

kino · 30th June 2024, 06:10 PM

Congrats B. It looks elegant.
Dimensions?
Do you think the divot on the blades edge is a forging flaw or something else?

Ian · 1st July 2024, 12:47 AM

Lovely barung! Beautiful older style pommel. Would you say early 19th C? That looks like a small caliber hole in the blade. Maybe a shotgun pellet? Shotguns were used by the US military and others in their quarrels with the Moros.

Battara · 1st July 2024, 06:16 AM

Thank you gents.

In scabbard the overall length is 27 3/4 inches or 69.38 cm.

I would say 19c. Early.....hmm. Perhaps. Blade is large though (18 inches or 45 cm). I would not place this as an early piece like 18c or early 19c. Maybe mid 19c or later, but not 20c. Early barong blades I thought were smaller, kind of following the kris/sundang examples in the 18c to early 19c.

Buckshot - never occurred to me. It would fit the section and it is round and does not go through the other side.

Very helpful. Not much info on this class of barong, but with materials it goes to a much more prominent datu. I have a picture of the Sultan of Sulu at the turn of the 20c with a barong that looks a lot like this one, but unfortunately is black and white, and fuzzy. I first thought this might be a sultan class barong, but I can't find any more info or attribution to a sultan class, so I must hold this as only a possible hypothesis with little proof.

Still this was on my wish list. I love my bling.

30th June 2024, 05:17 AM	#1
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,219	Upper class Datu ivory, swassa, and silver barong Greetings folks, I acquired this from Rsword months ago. It was on my wish list. It is an upper class datu Sulu barong. The pommel is ivory, the hilt made of silver, silver woven bands, and bands of swassa. The blade is laminated with a tiny round opening on one part of the edge. What is nice is that it has the original carved Tausug scabbard. I have only seen 5 of these - and the fifth is this one. The Metropolitan Museum in New York has one, but with a pieced pommel and a blade with silver inlays. Enjoy. Attached Images

30th June 2024, 05:18 AM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,219	Here are close ups of the scabbard and blade. Attached Images

30th June 2024, 05:21 AM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,219	For comparison, here is the one from the Metropolitan Museum in New York. No scabbard is present for this example. Attached Images

1st July 2024, 12:47 AM	#5
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,200	Congrats Jose ... Lovely barung! Beautiful older style pommel. Would you say early 19th C? That looks like a small caliber hole in the blade. Maybe a shotgun pellet? Shotguns were used by the US military and others in their quarrels with the Moros.

30th June 2024, 06:10 PM	#4
kino Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,002	Congrats B. It looks elegant. Dimensions? Do you think the divot on the blades edge is a forging flaw or something else?

1st July 2024, 06:16 AM	#6
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,219	Thank you gents. In scabbard the overall length is 27 3/4 inches or 69.38 cm. I would say 19c. Early.....hmm. Perhaps. Blade is large though (18 inches or 45 cm). I would not place this as an early piece like 18c or early 19c. Maybe mid 19c or later, but not 20c. Early barong blades I thought were smaller, kind of following the kris/sundang examples in the 18c to early 19c. Buckshot - never occurred to me. It would fit the section and it is round and does not go through the other side. Very helpful. Not much info on this class of barong, but with materials it goes to a much more prominent datu. I have a picture of the Sultan of Sulu at the turn of the 20c with a barong that looks a lot like this one, but unfortunately is black and white, and fuzzy. I first thought this might be a sultan class barong, but I can't find any more info or attribution to a sultan class, so I must hold this as only a possible hypothesis with little proof. Still this was on my wish list. I love my bling.