Spanish-American War Period Barong & Kris for Comment

[laEspadaAncha]

Good Fortune smiled upon me yesterday when I encountered (actually, I had gone in search of) these items at the estate sale of a recently deceased retired Naval officer. Instead of retyping the provenance, I have simply included a photo of the plaque with which these three (along with a couple other items, purchased by the person who informed me of the estate sale) had been displayed. These came out of the estate of one of the individuals named on the plaque.



In doing a little research, I found the following regarding Brig. Gen. (then Lt. Col.) Lloyd M. Brett's involvement as CO in action in Lanao that coincides with the date attributed to the original acquisition of these pieces... From The War of 1898 and U.S. Interventions, 1898-1934: an Encyclopedia:

"In April 1900, Datu Udasan of Malabang raided the town of Callalanuan and carried away captives and loot. A detachment of 25 troopers from Parang under Lt. Col. Lloyd M. Brett, aided by Datu Piang's 100 men, was sent to look into the incident. The result was an armed clash between Piang's men and Udasan's followers, two Moro groups traditionally in conflict. The death of Datu Amirul Umbra and 14 of Udasan's men intensified the feud between the Malabang Maranaos and the Maguindanaos. U.S. officials were blamed by the Maranaos for taking sides with the Maguindanaos. The Maranao attacks on a U.S. exploring party in 1902 were traced to Maranao resentment for the killing of Datu Umbra and two kinsmen of Datu Dacula, Umbra's father."

More on the provenance to follow... In the meantime, here's a photo of the three pieces I acquired - two kris(es?) and a nice fighting barong. Additional photos of each to follow this post. If I can get a photo of the third kris purchased by the person who told me about the estate sale (I've already sent him an email requesting the same), I'll post it as well. To put their respective sizes in perspective, the barong measures (approx.) 22 inches in OAL with a 15 inch blade.