Unknown Moro sword

[Sajen]

Hello Albert and David,

Thank you both for your comments! And yes, it's a very unusual shape for a Moro blade.
Someone wrote to me by mail that it could be a remounted Chinese blade.
And again yes, on the pictures it looks like the blade could be laminated.
I have never seen something similar and was very disappointed to get outbid.

Regards,
Detlef

[xasterix]

Hi Detlef,

The pommel matches Maranao signatures. These are usually found leaf-shaped blades that are also called 'keping' (these blades have often been dressed up and mistaken for barungs. In many cases the dressing up is deliberate, so that the tourists will buy kepings, thinking that they're barungs). I'm guessing this piece was assembled in Tugaya, which has always been a source for curios and hybrids. Tugaya artisans also loved adding handguards (like the one in your sample) and re-using scabbards from other places such as Sulu. There are even cases where Visayan and Luzon blades (or hilts) were married to a Moro dress (or blade). I believe your piece is a hybrid of a blade either copied or sourced from another region, then married with a hilt that has the grip of Sulu and the pommel of a keping, plus a Sulu-flavor scabbard.

[xasterix]

Since the next question would be- what would a keping look like? Here are a few samples I've come across. They were ID'd by a museum curator in Cagayan de Oro who has worked extensively with Maranao, Maguindanao, and Lumad tribes for over a decade.

[Battara]

I agree with Xasterix. I too have seen Maranao hilts and pommels like these before.

My question is the thin long blades. Are these different from what Cecil Quirino calls the sipput barong that also has long thinner blades?

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Battara

I agree with Xasterix. I too have seen Maranao hilts and pommels like these before.

My question is the thin long blades. Are these different from what Cecil Quirino calls the sipput barong that also has long thinner blades?

Thanks for the confirmation Mr Jose- I'm not familiar with the term "siput" used for barongs or barungs; but to my knowledge the long Sulu barungs would have a different build + dimensions than these long kepings that I showed here.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by xasterix

The pommel matches Maranao signatures. These are usually found leaf-shaped blades that are also called 'keping' (these blades have often been dressed up and mistaken for barungs. In many cases the dressing up is deliberate, so that the tourists will buy kepings, thinking that they're barungs). I'm guessing this piece was assembled in Tugaya, which has always been a source for curios and hybrids. Tugaya artisans also loved adding handguards (like the one in your sample) and re-using scabbards from other places such as Sulu. There are even cases where Visayan and Luzon blades (or hilts) were married to a Moro dress (or blade). I believe your piece is a hybrid of a blade either copied or sourced from another region, then married with a hilt that has the grip of Sulu and the pommel of a keping, plus a Sulu-flavor scabbard.

Hi Xas,

Thank you very much for your great expertise! I've hoped that you chime in since I was nearly sure that you are able to add informations! This sword coming from the same source as the kalis I've shown here recently. Would you agree that it has a similar age?

Best regards,
Detlef

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hi Xas,

Thank you very much for your great expertise! I've hoped that you chime in since I was nearly sure that you are able to add informations! This sword coming from the same source as the kalis I've shown here recently. Would you agree that it has a similar age?

Best regards,
Detlef

You're welcome! Yes, I'd agree that this piece was assembled at around the same era as your kalis.

[kino]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Hi Detlef,

The pommel matches Maranao signatures. These are usually found leaf-shaped blades that are also called 'keping' (these blades have often been dressed up and mistaken for barungs. In many cases the dressing up is deliberate, so that the tourists will buy kepings, thinking that they're barungs). I'm guessing this piece was assembled in Tugaya, which has always been a source for curios and hybrids. Tugaya artisans also loved adding handguards (like the one in your sample) and re-using scabbards from other places such as Sulu. There are even cases where Visayan and Luzon blades (or hilts) were married to a Moro dress (or blade). I believe your piece is a hybrid of a blade either copied or sourced from another region, then married with a hilt that has the grip of Sulu and the pommel of a keping, plus a Sulu-flavor scabbard.

I was wondering why the this swords scabbard says “Made in Lanao”

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by kino

I was wondering why the this swords scabbard says “Made in Lanao”

Nice piece, and it's neat that they put the provenance! This indicates that it was likely made in Tugaya (it's located in Lanao del Sur).

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kino

I was wondering why the this swords scabbard says “Made in Lanao”

When I unstand it correctly is this nice sword from Albert as well a keking?

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Sajen

When I unstand it correctly is this nice sword from Albert as well a keking?

That's right sir, it's a "keping." In Jacinto (1892) defined keping as "leaf" in his landmark work Diccionario Moro-Maguindanao-Español. My Mindanao-based contacts say it's simply a leaf bolo. Originally, kepings had simple hilts, but most were re-hilted started from the 1920s up to present time for the tourist trade, so that they could impersonate Sulu barungs. The laminated ones are older samples (I'm guessing pre-WW2, probably even pre-1900 for some), but even these were re-hilted and scabbarded for added bling and to better mimic barungs.

The original purpose of kepings was to serve as bolos (unlike the barung, which was an exclusive fighting blade- the Sulu-based Moros had other blades for bolo work).