31st August 2016, 10:41 PM | #1 |
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A Maranao Kris
my latest acquisition: a maranao kris from the 19th century. what amazes me about this piece is the completeness and the condition that it's in. i guess a definite advantage having been passed on from not too many people.
this particular piece was originally acquired by John J. Snyder, an officer in the US Navy during the Phil-Am war. it stayed with his family all these years, and it appears to be it has been stored properly. there were some rust which i removed. other than that, that was it. there are some dark spots which i decided to leave. as far as the kris is concerned: the scabbard is definitely original with sword. not quite sure what type of material was used, but the crosspiece was darkened with some type of native dye. as i was trying to clean it off with warm water and soap, it looks like it was coming off, so i just left it as it is, and applied renaissance wax. a curious addition that i don't normally see on moro scabbard is a piece of carabao horn to decorate the tip of the scabbard, or per indonesian keris terminology, the buntot. given that the main body of the scabbard is made out of light colored wood, it gives off a very nice visual contrast. now, the kris: what can i say; it's a freakin' work of art. starting at the pommel, it's made out of silver. i doubt it's solid: most likely wood, then covered with silver. the handle itself comprised of swaasa rings broken up by thinner rings made out of filigreed silver rings. closest to the pommel is a collar made out of swaasa as well. a single silver baka-baka decorated with Maranao okir clamps to the blade. the blade: one of the finest i've ever owned. whoever made this was one talented panday. i just love the way he made the wide part closest to the handle where one normally sees an incised arrow, out of twistcore bar. twistcore runs almost all the way to the tip. one thing i notice: as oppose to most sulu twistcore, this one doesn't have a naga okir on the tip. must be some tribal preference... the gangya is laminated, and it appears the edge are laminated as well. overall, in a true maranao fashion, this baby is heavy! attached are close up for your enjoyment! |
31st August 2016, 10:54 PM | #2 |
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Gorgeous kris Ron! Lovely blade and exquisite silver and gold hilt. Definitely a sword for a man of distinction. Congratulations on a great find.
I was wondering, looking at the blade, whether this sword might have started its existence to the south of the Philippines. The wide straight blade with deep fullers is unusual for a Moro piece. Also, the toe of the scabbard. Just reminds me of some that we have seen before that likely came from what is now N. Borneo/Malaysia. Just a thought. Do you think the blade might be older than 19th C.? It would be unusually heavy for an earlier Moro piece. Again, congrats on an excellent piece. Ian |
1st September 2016, 12:01 AM | #3 |
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Oh my!!!
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1st September 2016, 12:03 AM | #4 |
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Great piece Ron. I love the crisp fullering and matching twistcore...so bold and consistent!
Great get! Congrats! |
1st September 2016, 01:20 AM | #5 |
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Fantastic blade!!!!!!!!. About as good as it can get.......Dave.
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1st September 2016, 01:43 AM | #6 |
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Congrats, Ron, another gorgeous catch - the blade and the hilt are amazing!
You mention that it is heavy: How does the blade feel when swinging it? I don't think the blade is much older than the Phil.-Am. war period; this will - in addition to proper storage - also figure into the nice preservation... I note that the clamp doesn't seem to be attached to the hilt; any ideas why the craftsmanship also looks a bit subpar? While the horn buntut is a nice touch, the scabbard quality does not match this kris IMHO, especially considering the wood and carving/finish. It might be a replacement ordered for a battle pick-up. Any notable wear visible inside? Regards, Kai |
1st September 2016, 01:52 AM | #7 | |
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Hello Ian,
Quote:
However, there is a family of keris sundang blades from the Malay peninsula which shares quite a few of these features. IMVHO, this blade does not exhibit any clear Malay features while the base does seem consistent with a Moro and more specifically Maranao origin as already noted by Ron. Regards, Kai |
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1st September 2016, 04:10 AM | #8 | |||
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thanks all! for once, Facebook was good for something in regards to acquiring this piece
Quote:
as far as age, i'm with Kai that the blade was most likely made around late 19th century, but of course, we can never know for sure. Quote:
Quote:
as far as the scabbard. i highly doubt this was a battle field pick up, given the condition it's in. i think it's just one of those Moro weapon idiosyncrasy: there's that one part in the whole ensemble that does not jive. the whole focus on this particular kris is on the handle and blade, so to show it off, it has to be out of the scabbard... |
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1st September 2016, 04:44 AM | #9 |
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So did the Genie give you one wish or do you have another one as well ?
There is nothing that I can say that hasn't been said except thanks for sharing that magnificent sword with us ! |
1st September 2016, 06:39 AM | #10 |
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Thank you for this magnificent example!
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1st September 2016, 11:51 AM | #11 |
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Lovely example. how was the hilt when you bought it ? did you clean it ?
Bestregards, Willem |
1st September 2016, 02:10 PM | #12 |
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Nice catch, homie.
I like it that you've polished the hilt. It really stands out. Just wondering, does it have a pinkish/reddish hue to the silver? Congrats. |
1st September 2016, 03:07 PM | #13 |
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Absolutely outstanding. If ever there was a museum quality piece this is it.
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1st September 2016, 03:42 PM | #14 |
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Indeed an outstanding piece, Ron.
The fullers till end of the blade give it something like a Malay touch indeed, a singular feature. |
1st September 2016, 04:20 PM | #15 |
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This speaks to me so much. I am a big fan of straight kris and this is the finest example I've seen by far. Just... Wow.
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1st September 2016, 06:51 PM | #16 |
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Please forgive my drooling catcalling....YOWZAH!!!
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1st September 2016, 07:29 PM | #17 |
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Wow, great catch! Congrats.
Detlef |
1st September 2016, 09:53 PM | #18 | ||
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Quote:
here's a couple pics of what it looked like before i cleaned it. the only thing different is the tarnish that covered the metals. i really thought the whole thing was silver, but much to my surprise when i found out the handle is swaasa.. Kino, nah, it's full on metallic silver; it's just highly polished. the tint is just a reflection from the red shirt i was wearing when i was taking the pics, lol Gustav, Quote:
Drac2k, no genie, besides what's in the kris's blade, although the time machine i've been messing with is finally working right lol, i jest. |
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1st September 2016, 10:54 PM | #19 |
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A FINE KRIS INDEED CONGRAT'S
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2nd September 2016, 01:25 AM | #20 |
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What a wonderful example, congratulations!
The okie looks a little more Maguindanao, but they are very close and difficult to distinguish. Also looks like there is more silver in the swassa than I usually see. And I do see your point on the red shirt reflection......... |
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