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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greenville, NC
Posts: 1,855
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Well, I suppose silver must become the new ivory, so here's a start with that philosophy.
This lovely old barong is likely early 20th century and sports many fine and unique features: 1. A very heavy shandigan blade with reinforced edge and easily visible heat treated zone. This is probably the 2nd heaviest barong I have ever handled. 2. A "chop" mark to one side of the blade. I believe Spunjer suggested some time ago that these marks are often fraudulent and mean nothing, but became a status symbol nonetheless. I see nothing about this blade that suggests it's anything other than Moro made. If anyone sees a unique identity to the chop mark, please let us know. 3. A silver ferrule with a swassa bolster of excellent craftsmanship 4. The top of the ferrule is mounted in a separate, but perfectly fitted swassa insert, again, of tremendous craftsmanship....look at the practically seamless fit! 5. A swassa insert into the rear of the jungayyan-esque pommel. No doubt this one was at one time as perfect as the one mentioned above, but over time an opening has occurred between the swassa and silver on one side. Dimensions: Overall in scabbard: 26in. Complete sword alone: 24in. Blade:16in. The scabbard here is not original to this blade, but is an old one I had that just happened to fit perfectly. I have had some very good luck with collected old barong scabbards fitting on to blades they were not "born" with. Comments and remarks are welcomed. Last edited by CharlesS; 9th April 2014 at 06:37 PM. |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Witness Protection Program
Posts: 1,730
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yowza!!! what a beaut, Charles!!! nothing to add, really, except that this has got to be be one of the most beautiful barungs i've ever seen! congrats!!!
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#3 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 37
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Absolutely one of the most beautiful barongs I have seen...thanks for sharing!
All my best, John |
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#4 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Centerville, Kansas
Posts: 2,196
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WOW
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Best, Robert |
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#5 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 20
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this one got me drooling..
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greenville, NC
Posts: 1,855
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Thanks guys. I am thrilled with it. Somehow it almost seems to have an 'art deco' quality to it doesn't it? Just very different.
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#7 |
Keris forum moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,096
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I'm sorry Charles, but the recent ban on ivory has just been extended to all silver-hilted barongs as well. If you wrap this beauty up immediately and sent it to me directly i will see what i can do about keeping it safe from the customs agents and making sure no charges are brought against you…
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#8 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Oxford (UK)
Posts: 96
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Indeed an outstanding barong, which I was sorry to see as 'sold' on Gavin's website Swords and Antique Weapons a few days ago, but congratulations to CharlesS for securing it (and to Gavin for finding it).
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#9 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,885
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While I have seldom entered this particular field of collecting, I have occasionally had the opportunity to see phenomenal examples of these kinds of weapons through Gav, who has always helpfully shared many of these 'finds' with me. Naturally with my obsession with markings on blades of all kinds, this one is intriguing as it seems odd to see a Chinese 'chop' mark on a blade from Islamic areas of the S. Philippines.
Although I no longer am a collector of weapons, I am very much of information and learning.Thanks to the tenacious and discerning skills of Gav in finding unusual, and as seen here, fantastically beautiful, weapons I have indeed learned a lot! Congratulations Charles! and thank you for presenting this incredible weapon with such great detail. I hope we will get more on the chop mark. It seems these of course were placed on all manner of things, money, documents etc. as an easily recognized indicator of official status. On arms it seems to have been used primarily as a 'quality' symbol, much the same as with makers and guild marks on European and other blades, so I doubt it could be classified as 'fraudulent' despite probably being spurious . |
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#10 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: OKLAHOMA, USA
Posts: 3,138
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A BEAUTIFUL AND EXCEPTIONAL BARONG ,CONGRADULATIONS!
![]() THE METAL WORK LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING A VERY GOOD JEWELER COULD DO. IF THE SILVER , SWASSA METAL WORK WAS DONE BY A CHINESE THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN THE MARK THOUGH I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY WOULD HAVE SIGNED THE BLADE INSTEAD OF THE SILVER WORK. ![]() A STROKE OF GOOD LUCK FINDING SUCH A NICE SCABBARD THAT FITS. I WOULD THINK THE ORIGINAL WOULD ALSO HAVE BEEN MADE OUT OF THIS VERY GOOD QUALITY WOOD. |
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#11 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,726
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What can I say others don't have said already?
A real beauty, congrats Charles! ![]() Regards, Detlef |
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#12 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Room 101, Glos. UK
Posts: 4,167
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i seem to recall reading that the chinese produced good blades for the Filipino trade which were then hilted in the Philippines.
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