Curious Moro blade

[Ian]

One other thing I would add in relation to the original subject of this thread and the Sumbawa (?) blade I show is the apparent similarity of the edges. The pictured item on eBay shows evidence of a hardened edge, which may have been inserted (as many Moro weapons show, perhaps in imitation of Chinese methods) or heat-treated (which is less commonly seen on Moro weapons).

I'm fairly confident that the edge on my sword/knife has been heat-treated differentially because there is evidence of lamination within the hardened area, and there is an obvious narrow transition line between the hardened edge and the body of the blade.

If the new owner of the eBay item were to clean and etch that blade, I think he would find evidence of differential heat-treatment also. IMO this is an unusual finding on Moro pieces and would tend to confirm the use of a blade made elsewhere.

Ian.

[Ian]

On looking through van Zonneveld again, there are three illustrations of knives from Sumbawa on p. 74 (figures 281-283) that each show the narrow neck feature. These are the only examples of this feature that I can find in van Z. after looking through the book several times.

Another reference source by Donn F. Draeger, The Weapons & Fighting Arts of Indonesia, offers some further possibilities for this style of blade. In Figure 60, Basic types of Javanese knife and sword blades (p. 100), he has a drawing of a larbango which has a long narrow neck and upswept blade. This is the closest example I've seen so far to the odd Moro blade at the top of this post.

Elsewhere in his book, Draeger shows several knives from the Celebes that also feature a narrow neck: the Bajau parang (Fig. 166, p. 213) which resembles the blade of my Sumbawa knife; and several examples from the Toradja people, including the labo topang, piso, and piso lampakan (Fig. 168, p. 215) and an ublakas or parang upatjara (Fig. 169, p.216).

None of the these knives mentioned in Draeger are included in van Zonneveld's book.

[zelbone]

I have to disagree with you, Ian. I've handled this sword and I seriously doubt that the blade was manufactured outside the Philippines. There are other Moro swords besides the kampilan, kris, barung, panabas, pira, bangkung, janap, and gayang. Most swords were made on a custom basis and the original owner probably had this particular one made to fit his fighting style. In fact, to me it handles better than your typical barung.

I see where your coming from of the similarities to swords from Sumbawa with the narrow neck feature. It may be a rarity on a Moro sword, but isn't unheard of among other Filipino swords. There are several narrow necked swords found all across the Philippine archipeligo. Some of these include the plamanko, certain sansibars, binakokos, a few Batangas espadas, a type of bolo from Bicol, and those ubiquitous "talibons" from Leyte and Samar. Here are a few narrow necked sundang from the Philippines to compare to.

[Ian]

Good to hear from you. Rare Moro blade forms are always going to be hard to pin down as to their origins I guess.

Of the examples you posted, I think only the top one is of a truly similar style, with the clear "cut out" segment and the parallel edges of the blade near the hilt. Interesting that it is found on a Visayan knife. In fact, that particular blade looks very similar to a Sulawesi badek pictured in van Zonneveld (p. 27, no. 24) but that one has a Bugis hilt that is obviously different from your example.

Perhaps this "cut out" blade style arose elsewhere (Java, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sundas) but was incorporated into the Moro and Visayan armamentaria as a rare form. You might like to check whether larbango (Java) is a term used for a Moro weapon -- just as bangkung (Bugis), jimpul (Kenyah, Sea Dyak) have been borrowed from other ethnic groups to describe weapons used by the Moro.

One last question and I'll let this one rest. Since you have handled this particular item, is the hardened edge inserted (in the usual Moro way) or differentially heat treated?

A picture of the etched blade and edge would be nice to see.

Ian.

[Ian]

Just finished on eBay. This is a sword length Sumbawa example, again with the cut out ricasso feature.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7407963143

Ian.

[VVV]

I also noticed it when we were discussing.
Isn't that the same seller as for the one you posted?

Michael

[Ian]

Yes, it is the same seller Michael.

Originally Posted by VVV

I also noticed it when we were discussing.
Isn't that the same seller as for the one you posted?

Michael