Unusual old barung

Ian · 23rd February 2005, 12:22 AM

This one just finished on eBay, and the hilt is unusual -- no kakatua:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7301459593

This hilt reminds me of one that Battara restored a while ago and which we discussed here: http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002259.html

[Battara's reconstruction of that silver junggayan kakatua is my avatar today.]

I believe the one that just finished on eBay had, at one time, a similar valuable junggayan kakatua that was lost or removed (perhaps for sale), with a silver cap being used to cover the end of the hilt. The ivory and horn or ebony spacers visible below the silver cap were often found on high end junggayan barung (Battara and I did some reseach on this when he was restoring my other barung).

So I think the one that just finished on eBay likely started life as a high end, datu quality, junggayan barung, but later the family fell on hard times and sold off the kakatua. The rest of the barung looks to be fairly high quality too, and the sword with its scabbard may well be 19th C. I think I got a good deal on this one.

A question for the Moro collectors -- Should the hilt be restored to the former glory it may have had, or be left in its present state?

23rd February 2005, 12:22 AM	#1
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,200	Unusual old barung This one just finished on eBay, and the hilt is unusual -- no kakatua: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7301459593 This hilt reminds me of one that Battara restored a while ago and which we discussed here: http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002259.html [Battara's reconstruction of that silver junggayan kakatua is my avatar today.] I believe the one that just finished on eBay had, at one time, a similar valuable junggayan kakatua that was lost or removed (perhaps for sale), with a silver cap being used to cover the end of the hilt. The ivory and horn or ebony spacers visible below the silver cap were often found on high end junggayan barung (Battara and I did some reseach on this when he was restoring my other barung). So I think the one that just finished on eBay likely started life as a high end, datu quality, junggayan barung, but later the family fell on hard times and sold off the kakatua. The rest of the barung looks to be fairly high quality too, and the sword with its scabbard may well be 19th C. I think I got a good deal on this one. A question for the Moro collectors -- Should the hilt be restored to the former glory it may have had, or be left in its present state?