Gunongs Righty & Lefty

[David]

So....someone really needs to do serious research on these little fellas and write a good book...
Don't know why i never noticed the reverse hilt orientation on these two old gunongs. I have serious doubts that the hilts were ever replaced, though the old 19th C mexican silver dollar used as a guard on the one with the wooden pommel might well be a replacement.
Sooooo....were these made for a right-handed and left-handed user respectfully. Anyone else have gunongs with differently oriented hilts. I only have these 2 for comparison.

[Rick]

FTFY, David .

[David]

Well DUH!!! Don't know how i did that Rick. Could have sworn i posted this in the regular forum...
Thanks for the move....

[Battara]

Well until then, try out this link - Federico has the only detailed information on these things: http://home.earthlink.net/~federicom...roweapons.html

Now for these - I would say possibly 1920s due to the shape of the hilts (though not seen blades yet).

I would not be surprised if some of these were for a left handed person, though most for a right handed one. I would imagine that earlier versions were for the left hand when you would have a sword in the right. In the later periods, say, 1920s-1940s they might be more used for the right hand due to the banning of swords among the Moros by the American administration.

[David]

Thanks for the link Jose. I have, of course, been to Federico's site many time and have seen this.
As for these gunongs, i believe you have indeed seen them both as they were both posted at different times in threads i am pretty sure you were involved in. I confident that they would be 1920s at the very lastest and probably a bit earlier.
As for fighting with a kris in one hand and a gunong in the other, i have never heard of that from reports on the Moro. Do you have any references for this info? I am aware of the sword banning, but i believe these gunongs pre-date that order.

[Ferguson]

I can't believe I've never noticed right/left handed gunongs. I'll pull mine out this weekend and check them.

Steve

[Gavin Nugent]

I would be curious to know the blade orientation when out of the sheath?
I say this because at face value one could be forgiven for thinking the sheath fittings have been put of back to front after a restoration or similar event.



Gav

[Jean]

A nice and used gunong found in a Middle-East antique shop!
Regards

[David]

That's a sweet gunong you have there Jean...
Here are the blades. The hilt orientation seems correct to me. I believe this is a matter of which side of the body the sheaths are oriented to be worn on.

[Battara]

Well the blades do show that they are not post 1940s. Nice blades, although I suspect an etch could show laminations.

These knives if I remember right were used for personal defense. Smaller ones are usually older (as well as your hilts on these) and kept on the body, sometimes even hidden in the clothing.

As far as the sword banning, it was done I think after the Battle of Bud Bagsak, which was in 1915. After this battle we gradually see these gunongs get bigger and more ornate, sort of replacing the outlawed Moro swords.

[David]

Originally Posted by Battara

Well the blades do show that they are not post 1940s. Nice blades, although I suspect an etch could show laminations.

Jose, i pretty sure these are both pre-1920. I really think they are both closer to turn of the century. They are indeed both laminated blades, but they don't show any particularly interesting pattern. I did an etch on the ivory one and brought it back a bit because it looks better this way.
Looking forward to your account Fergie, since i know you have quite a few of these. Should give us a better understanding if it was common to wear these on different sides of the body.