Miniatures photo from Moro Swords
 

Hello. Does anyone have a better quality scanned version of the following image from page 88 of Moro Swords by Robert Cato that I can use for reference? As you can see the one I have is difficult to make out details.

"Moro weapons plaques" are common, google that phrase and select 'images' and there are plenty of examples in larger sizes very similar to the page you scanned.

Indeed, I've been looking at a number of them. The red one on left, from Cato's book, seems to have more detail and variety than most.

While i definitely agree with you that these are plentiful, the phrase "Moro weapons plaques" actually does not yield good Google results. The keywords that give better result are "weapons of moroland plaque". ;)

I couldn't find that one either :confused:


p.s.- Moroland didn't enter my mind....Not a label i've used before. 'Moro' is included in the text 'Moroland' and should have been included in google's efforts. 'of' is unecessary in a search, too short. The singular 'plaque' may give more as my query was for a pair as in Cato's book. Google of course gave me singles anyway. Google is not necessarily the best search engine, just the most popular at the moment. I even tried just 'weapon plaque' and 'sword plaque' and a few other terms - looking for that smaller red one before giving up.

A "Moroland" plaque like the right one still hang in my child's room. I will take photos when I visit my parents.

I have founds a couple examples like the red version which are fabric covered which look older. Seems to be be long tradition of making these. I would still like to get a better look at the one in Cato's book if anyone happens to have a decent scan of it.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for raising this topic. People think of these boards as tourist items, which they largely are, but some of the older ones (like you have shown) can contain evidence of blades that have disappeared from use.

Below are pictures of the largest example I have found. It measures roughly 32 inches wide and 40 inches tall when closed, and is a triptych with two small side panels that fold out and a large central one. Apart from a few hilts missing, the piece is well preserved. It is covered in black treated cloth similar to what was used as upholstery on T-model Fords before WWII, so I think this one is from the 1930s.

Ian
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And here are two familiar examples, although these have some age to them. I acquired both in the late 1990s. The first one is probably from the mid-20th C and the second somewhat later.

The second one bears the name of a place (Zamboanga) and it's my sense that the vast majority of these plaques were made in Zamboanga. This may explain why some of the pieces (e.g., barung) look a little odd. Zamboanga ia a melting pot of Moro, Chavacano, Visayan cultures, and some of the Moro weapons coming from there are a little different from elsewhere in "Moroland."

Ian.

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Managed to get a photo of the page from Moro Swords...

Has anyone seen an actual capa -capa axe?

Indio_Ira, can you indicate the example on the board that you are referring to? :confused:

I'm assuming the one in the first pic you shared in posting #9, Ian. ;)

Interesting. What would you call this one on the red board?


Looks a bit like one of my recent wotsits.