moro kris arrived
 

Well the kris finally turned up , ive given it a light clean and tried etching the blade with vinegar but hasnt shown a twist core ,
But still very happy with it , On my last post ian mentioned the wooden hilt would of had a crest but after looking closely there doest seem any evidence of this ?
Im no expert but looks untouched,
would like to think its an older sword 18th century but who knows ?

Kind looks like a Magunindanao hilt on an early Sulu blade. I'll look at my info to see what tribe the cloth mansala comes from.

Nice piece. Might have had a strip of silver for copper on top of the pommel. Any nails or nail holes on top?

Hi Tom,

Nice work on the clean-up. As to whether the hilt originally had a crest, this can be hard to determine sometimes, especially from pictures. I have not seen a "crestless" kakatua hilt that showed no evidence of damage or recarving of the hilt. The crest seems to have been a vulnerable part of the pommel and susceptible to breaking off. It's possible that your kakatua hilt never had a crest, but that would be a first in my experience. Perhaps a crest was sometimes removed for comfort or ease of use.

Your pommel lacks the common side panels and I think the size of your kakatua crest argues for early-mid 19th C dress, but the blade could be older.

Hi thanks Battara , would be interesting to see what tribe it possibly came from, I cant see any other nail holes on the pommel , its a lovely piece of wood though

Hi ,Thanks Ian
It cleaned up quite well though was carefull not to over clean it , i never thought that it may of been recarved and now seems very possible as you have said , i have found a picture of a similar example which i will post , thanks for the info