Tale of two Krises

[Spunjer]

here are two krises. similar, but yet so different. i thought they were both Sulu, but i'm leaning more towards Maguindanao on Goldilocks here. the blade has etchings on both side using lost-wax process, reminiscent of style that is prevalent with the Lumad tribes. i would assume that whoever had this done are quite familiar with the Bagobo/T'boli sudeng, or swords. it must have been an inspiration. The brass handle is another clue. when i first got it, the whole blade was covered with old cosmoline, dark green and dingy looking. i decided to remove it, and along the process, i ended up shining the asang-asang. so i said what the heck, and went to town blinging up the handle.

The second kris is classic Sulu. silver pommel with silver rings interspersed with braided silver wire. the blade has that ever so slight taper towards the tip, and as a comparison with the maguindanao piece, a bit shorter. the collar (closest to the pommel) was missing, and was instead repaired with local jute. not knowing how the collar looked like originally, i'm happy to leave it as it is. the pommel was black when i first got it, not sure if it was silver at first, although i was certain that it has to be silver. the blade has active red rust running along the ridge. this was removed right away. another common Sulu blade trait, the skunk stripe lamination, appeared. you could barely see it, but it's there.

comparing both pommels, they appear to be similar, in that they are both cone-shape, but looking closely, you will notice that the Sulu is more circular, while the Maguindanao has a more oval-ish shape and has flat edges on the front and back.

enjoy!