Moro Barong for comments!
 

Provenance and age on this Barong please!

Over all length: 23"
Blade alone: 15"
Thick: 1/4"
Wide: 2 1/2"

Thanks,
Punal

For this puppy, Punal, I would say that it might be Tausug from a mid-prominant owner (but not a datu) with a very nice many layered sandwich construction lamination. I noticed the beak repair. Age? - certainly not any later than 1900.

Good looking Barung. Excellent carving on the kakatua, with a killer blade to boot. Any ideas on the triangular cut out on the pommel.

Battara... why do you think this might not have belonged to a Datu. I would say that this is just as nice or ever nicer than the 2 Datu Barungs pictured on pg. 37 of Cato's book. I would place this Barung in the same category,IMHO.


Good catch Punal............ Here are photos of my ceremonial Ninja sword ;) .
It's a bit smaller, it has a swollen edge. Could this be considered a Shandigan blade.
Blade 11-3/4"
Width 2-14"
Thickness shy of 1/4"
Hilt 6-1/2"









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Hello Kino,

From your pics, this seems like a Shandigan blade to me. Nice one, too.

What's the weight of your Barong?

Battara seems to think this beak is an (old) replacement - seems to be a plausible hypothesis...

Regards,
Kai

BTW, is that a plain iron nail holding the beak in place, Punal?

Regards,
Kai

Hi there Kai,

Here's a close up photo of the beak!
The spike is made of wood w/ checked head.

punal