New Maguindanao Kris Form

[Spunjer]

ok, a little update:

in a recent conversation i have with Amai Mingka's (Datu Piang) granddaughter, i mentioned this kris. according to the story that was passed on to her by her grandma, Datu Piang has a personal panday in Dulawan (incidentally, that town is now known as Datu Piang). whenever he has a particular weapon made, whether it be kris, spears, etc., he would commission this panday to make multiple copies, and he would give these pieces to foreign dignitaries who visited him and had given him gifts. now, this would make sense why this piece and the one on the historical picture is so similar...
in a way, this change the common perception in which each individual kris was made to one specific person.
sooo, there's a strong possibility that your piece might be "as is", batara. a similar handle was made, an extra blade lying around, personal panday of Datu Piang put it together, then BAM! instant replica of his favorite sword...

[Battara]

Thanks so much Spunger. This sheds all kinds of light on this piece. Explains why this is identical and yet not identical to the one in the picture. So there is an even higher possibility that this belonged to Datu Piang, even though it is not the one in the picture.

By the way, I have decided not to put the straps up the hilt - would have modify or replace the twisted silver wire. I am not willing to do that nor do anything in which certainty is not assured.

Now for the baka-baka, that is a different matter. Still thinking on that.

[Battara]

Just thought I would place these pictures in black and white to better compare them without color distraction. There are enough tiny differences to my eye to show that these are not the exact same in the hilts (excluding the ring question).

Also, I think it interesting that although Datu Piang may have had several of theses made, he approved of this specific form and design and liked it enough to have it copied for his use.

[Spunjer]

just a theory, but perhaps the kris pictured with him would be his personal favorite. copies were made, and were given to some real important dignitaries...

[Battara]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

just a theory, but perhaps the kris pictured with him would be his personal favorite. copies were made, and were given to some real important dignitaries...

That's what I'm thinking........

[Battara]

I have decided not to bother to take the time (which I don't have) to make a new scabbard. Instead I wanted to and decided to attempt to stabilize and replace missing parts of the scabbard.

The scabbard was splintering into pieces, so I stabilized it from the inside, made a replacement belt stop that was originally in the hole towards the top in this style of scabbard. I also had to take off the original stain (yes it was stained brown I found out), smoothed out some of the bumps, and especially took off the large drips of white paint that later dropped onto it sometime in the past. At the same time I cleaned the nickel-silver bands.

I dare not go any further because I am afraid of doing harm, and I am also limited due to the thinness of the edges of the scabbard and the softness of the wood. Therefore some of the edges of the scabbard that are jagged and open (damaged in the past sometime which also somewhat damaged the blade in those areas).

Posted are before and after pictures.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Battara

I have decided not to bother to take the time (which I don't have) to make a new scabbard. Instead I wanted to and decided to attempt to stabilize and replace missing parts of the scabbard.

The scabbard was splintering into pieces, so I stabilized it from the inside, made a replacement belt stop that was originally in the hole towards the top in this style of scabbard. I also had to take off the original stain (yes it was stained brown I found out), smoothed out some of the bumps, and especially took off the large drips of white paint that later dropped onto it sometime in the past. At the same time I cleaned the nickel-silver bands.

I dare not go any further because I am afraid of doing harm, and I am also limited due to the thinness of the edges of the scabbard and the softness of the wood. Therefore some of the edges of the scabbard that are jagged and open (damaged in the past sometime which also somewhat damaged the blade in those areas).

Posted are before and after pictures.

Hello Jose,

very good work to stabilize the original scabbard, it look much better now!

Regards,

Detlef