PIRA

[tanaruz]

Hello Friends,

A gift from my father. Said to be one of the rarest form of the Moro pira/swords.

The horn hilt- in the shape of a cockatoo's head(pommel) with a long pommel
extension. (brass ferrule).

Scabbard: the upper part which forms as a lock(see pic). With some engravings and made of wood (unknown).

OAL: 37.25" (to the tip of the elongated pommel)/ Blade: 19.25"

My father said that it took him 47 years to find one in this form.

A very Merry Christmas to all!

Salud,

Yves

[Ian]

Yves,

I'm not sure whether you are saying that pira are rare or the hilt style on this particular example is rare. I have a few pira and some seem to have a similar hilt style as yours. They are shown here with some other swords in my collection that are not relevant to this discussion--these are just some pictures that I had on hand.

Ian.

.

[tanaruz]

Originally Posted by Ian

Yves,

I'm not sure whether you are saying that pira are rare or the hilt style on this particular example is rare. I have a few pira and some seem to have a similar hilt style as yours. They are shown here with some other swords in my collection that are not relevant to this discussion--these are just some pictures that I had on hand.

Ian.

.

Hi,

I mean the hilt form/style. My father said that somewhere he read that this form/style(hilt) is the rarest. Well it took him awhile to get one. And he has been collecting Moro swords since 1976 (and my grandfather, who was in the US Army WW2, since 1946).

Regards

Yves

[chmorshuutz]

I guess I agree on the hilt being rare, among recent samples, you will almost never see any pira that still has this type of hilt.

[xasterix]

Hello,

What you have there is a 1920s or later Maranao rendition of the Yakan pira. The hilt is Maranao-made, same with the blade. The blade doesn't have distinct signatures of the original pre-1900 Yakan version (no delineated square/rectangular ricasso before the edge curves down, among other indicators). Furthermore, the hilt extension of your sample is already positioned in a way that it can be struck without the extension getting in the way of the wielding hand (the original pira has this distinct problem/feature).

The Maranao copied the pre-1900 version, along with other Moro blades such as barung, because these were popular among American GIs.

Hope that info helps!

[Ian]

Hi Xas,

Good to hear from you on the subject of pira. Interesting that the Maranao chose to produce "tourist" versions for American servicemen. I think my examples fall into the same category.

The relationship between the U.S. military and the Maranao people was rather tense at times IIRC. For example, the U.S. punishment expeditions led by Pershing in the early 1900s were unfriendly engagements with the Maranao. So I'm a bit surprised that the Maranao were trading with U.S. servicemen a decade or two later. Also, IIRC, most of the U.S. military on Mindanao were located in and around Reina Regente, close to the HQ of Datu Piang in Cotobato during the period 1901–1925. Perhaps trade with the Maranao picked up closer to WWII and after.

[Rick]

Here is a Pira that went to Macao and is in the History of Steel catalogue.

[werecow]

Does the pommel stalk have a function (hooking maybe?) or is it decorative?

[kai]

Does the pommel stalk have a function (hooking maybe?) or is it decorative?

The common story is that the extension helps to protect the wrist (i.e. lower arm). Would be great to get more info from inside the Yakan culture...

Obviously, the modern pommel versions tend to be exaggerated and non-functional.

Regards,
Kai

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Hello,

What you have there is a 1920s or later Maranao rendition of the Yakan pira. The hilt is Maranao-made, same with the blade. The blade doesn't have distinct signatures of the original pre-1900 Yakan version (no delineated square/rectangular ricasso before the edge curves down, among other indicators). Furthermore, the hilt extension of your sample is already positioned in a way that it can be struck without the extension getting in the way of the wielding hand (the original pira has this distinct problem/feature).

I found this as collateral knowledge while researching another topic. To my eye at least one doesn't have the squared ricasso. I thought this was interesting. Are these Maranao piras as well?

[Sajen]

Here again my example.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

I found this as collateral knowledge while researching another topic. To my eye at least one doesn't have the squared ricasso. I thought this was interesting. Are these Maranao piras as well?

Sorry if I was unclear: it doesn't strictly have to be squared. Square-ish, or at the very least distinctly delineated from the edge (sometimes a line or a 'dimple') that begins to curve after.

That's only one indicator on the blade...there are others such as the orientation of the clip and tip as compared to the hilt axis and "tail," the curve trajectory of the edge, and if viewed from top, telltale signs from the spine.

There is no such thing as a Maranao pira. Pira is a Sulu blade, among others, that was copied by Tugaya craftsmen starting 1920s until the 1990s. They also copied other blades such as Lumad, and even from Luzon and Visayan areas; sometimes they re-dressed legit Luzon and Visayan blades with fantastic dresses to make them 'exotic' to tourist eyes.

I've personally taken apart a wide range of old Tugaya tourist products and I can assure you, most of them have no heat treatment or made of inferior metal and materials. Some even have nonexistent tangs and are just glued to the hilt cleverly.

[SanibelSwassa]

Here’s an older Pira that I got from a seller on eBay when I first started collecting.

This post actually had me think about doing a blade cleaning and etching to see what might be in the blade. Will post when I get done with the process.