"Early" Moro kris

[Ian]

This is another fine old Moro kris from the Oriental Arms site. It is number 7477 in Sold Items. Here is Artzi Yarom's description:

This is a fine Moro Sword, early type, probably early 19 C or earlier. The blade is 18 inches, slender, and fullered. The fullers are etched in a pattern reminding the Twisted Star pattern common to the period in the middle east swords. The execution of the etching is so fine that at the beginning I was almost sure I am holding a real Twisted Star pattern on hand. The handle is wood covered with bands of silver fibers. One silver reinforcing clamp and a brass strip covering the Ganja. Ivory pommel in a classical cockatoo shape with some inscription on it. Wood scabbard bound with braided rattan. Total length 24 inches. Very good condition. There are repairs on the tip of the pommel and the scabbard mouth.

This sword has many features that are variously claimed as indicators of age:

• almost entirely straight line of separation between gangya and blade
• long, graceful single luk or luk 3 by current convention
• short blade length
• presence of ricikin features—sogokan, blumbangan, sekar kacang, jalen, gandik, lambe gajah, greneng—found on the "Modern Javanese Keris"
• an excellent central panel of twist core "pamor" with a mid-line ridge running most of the length of the blade
  
• tapering width of blade from gangya to acute tip, an architecture probably reflecting the origins of the Moro kris from the Indonesian keris that was used as a stabbing weapon

One might expect that a Moro kris blade that closely resembled the Modern Javanese Keris of, say, the 16th C would reflect an "early" form of the Moro kris. However, this sword does not look old enough to have been made in the 16th C. Perhaps it is a "revival form," made later but in an earlier style. That could still make it quite old and pre-1800. The feature that suggests a revival form is the "elephant trunk area." The space outlined by the sekar kacang and gandik is oval, and the lower part of the gandik is concave rather than convex (the latter being seen on Javanese keris of the 16th C and also on old Moro kris). A pronounced oval space with downwards sloping jalen are seen on 19th C and later Moro kris (and perhaps pre-1800), notably those kris thought to be of Sulu origin. The ivory pommel is also of a form that came later than 16th C, especially the presence of a small crest and a side panel on the main section of the pommel. The greneng show considerable wear and loss over time, consistent with a pre-1800 sword.

Just how far back was the Moro kris in use? We don't know exactly. The Spaniard, Legaspi, landed in the Philippines in the mid-16th C and early Spanish reports noted the use of the Moro kris, including during the Spanish-Moro Wars that started in the late 16th C and continued sporadically until the end of the 19th C (when Spain ceded the Philippines to the U.S.). The Moro kris preceded the arrival of Spain, but how much earlier is unclear.

As always, thoughts and comments are most welcome.
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