New Gunong

[Robert]

Here is my latest ebay find, a very nice little gunong. I am very happy to say that the fittings are made of coin silver and to my great joy and surprise all of the twisted wire bands on the scabbard and hilt are of low grade gold. Maybe that is the reason be seller thought that all the fittings were made of brass. While the silver itself was tarnished the gold wire (after just wiping with a damp cloth) was still quite bright and shiny. Here are a few photos, before (auction photos) and after a little cleaning. I don't know why the color of the gold wire is washed out so bad (possibly because I had to use a flash when taking the photos) but it can be seen best in the first two photos taken after cleaning. I would date this to the second quarter of the 20th century (1930's) and being of Maranao origin. Etching the blade will be my next step as I believe it to be laminated. Any comments or added information would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Robert