Atypical kris for comment
 

Hello, I called this "atypical" because...I've seen only about 3 similarly-built Moro kris scattered throughout the forum and other sites, and my sample is the least aesthetic of them all. My Malaysian friends call this "kapit sundang" and "clamp-type kris." The blade is 22in long- light, nimble, and springy. OA length is 28in.

Similarly-constructed samples are also welcome, TIA! :D

Is this area within the box forged along with the upper ganga? It looks like it’s slightly raised.
Nice catch.

Thanks sir! I'm attaching a pic with a rough scribble of how the parts interact.

Green is the gangya line. The lower gangya is thicker than the upper; the lower half of the plate (blue) is either forged from, or welded to the lower gangya. The upper gangya is thinner, so the upper part of the plate (red) "floats" above it. There is tree resin under the floating plate.

That's a really sweet piece with some fine attention to detail in the application of the Kapit.

Very atypical as you note, most are as this one is from the Met collection

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collec...WTkXjOU5RGPGkU

You note the plate floats, in that it is resin afixed, but is this Kapit section that floats actually now part of the gonjo, and there is but an incised line across the kapit to complete the gonjo line, or are these two fully separate sections, one forge welded, the other resin afixed?

Gavin

Sorry the photo failed to attach.
I’m glad you knew was I was referring to. Kris’ with a silver okir engraved panel that I have encountered (~3) were fastened to the blade with something that resembles a rivet. Your example is another method. Very nice sword.

Since there is no real "guard" on these kris, I'm reluctant to call the downward projection from the top half of the gangya a langet but it certainly looks and behaves like one. I suppose this could be an old Hindu influence in the Malay/Indonesian world that had a little penetration into the Moro culture.

That is a mystery to me still. In this closeup, there is a demarcation line on the plate that traces the gangya separation- but I can't tell whether it's real or emulated.

Thanks for this insight Ian ! I'll read up on this influence.

Thank you.

I am getting the emulated feeling from it and the edges that ran over the gonjo have been forged there at that point... an interesting piece indeed....