Moro keris/kalis ID

[adamb]

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can provide a little information on this keris/kalis; likely source of origin in the region, and approximate age? Both are of interest but especially the latter, as it might help make sense of the inscription on the label.

Any and all insight much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Battara]

I'd venture Maguindanao (Island of Mindanao) and mid 19c.

I'll let others correct me.

[Rick]

I'd like to see a close up, in focus horizontal image of the label.
I think that's important in helping trace the history.

How about length overall, blade, etc.

That is a really nice example of an old Moro kris, and it doesn't look like it has had any recent 'restoration'.

[Maurice]

Beautiful sundang.

I would say Sulu, and pre 1880 (but I'm no expert in Filipino blades).
Maybe it even wandered with the seafarers for their piracy practices, and it ended up at the Sarawak/Borneo coastal areas.

It looks like the scabbard had been 'painted' with a kind of yellow/goldish like dye?

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Battara

I'd venture Maguindanao (Island of Mindanao) and mid 19c.

I'll let others correct me.

Agreed- Maguin blade (Iranun another possibility), Mindanao dress (possibly Maguin or Iranun also, but not discounting Maranao-area side). I would further conjecture that the blade is nobility-type, early to mid 1800s.

[Ian]

I'm taking a slightly different tack with this one, but will probably end up in much the same place as most comments already.

The prominent central fuller stands out on the blade. I believe this is very unusual on Moro-made kris for two reasons. First, the fuller starts some distance below the gangya (there is no "arrowhead" feature) and, second, it extends to within a centimeter of the tip. This type of fuller is seen more commonly, I think, on Malayan kris, or at least Malayan-influenced blades. I have an old and heavily patinated kris with a similar fuller and a wider than expected blade for its relatively short length and likely age.

The scabbard is of an older style, with a nicely carved cross piece, a prominent up-turn to the toe and a smaller downwards protrusion as well. There have been a few of these showing up here lately. Again, I believe this style of scabbard has a strong Malayan influence. Most kris that I have seen with this style of scabbard were in Sulu dress. Cato's book has a Sulu royalty example with a similarly styled scabbard on the dust jacket. So Maurice's suggestion that this could be a Sulu kalis has some basis, I believe.

Looking at the elephant trunk area, I have difficulty separating this one between Maguindanao, Sulu, or Malay. The area enclosed by the seca kacang (trunk) and gandhik looks more oval than round, which favors a Sulu or Malayan blade. There is a slight "fullness" of the gandhik that might suggest a Maranao origin, but it's not a typical Maranao appearance.

The hilt in this case isn't very helpful in separating tribal origin. The plaited hemp wrap is utilitarian and well suited for combat, while the diminutive kakatua pommel is a common style and includes the side panels.

I'm inclined to think this is a Malay-influenced Sulu kalis. Another possibility is Ilanun (Iranum). Ilanun communities are found in northern Borneo and to the south of Brunei. The main population resides in Mindanao, between the areas populated by Maranao and Maguindanao. They are excellent sailors (and pirates). It would be expected that some Ilanun would carry weapons with Malayan characteristics.

[Ian]

Here is one of mine in a similar style scabbard. The smaller tip on the toe is partly missing. It has a similar cross piece to the scabbard. The blade has a central ridge (no fuller) and the elephant trunk area shows Maranao features. The hilt has a similar wrap of woven fibers and a very small ivory kakatua with side panels.


.

[milandro]

I would agree with Sundag Sulu ,

The ganja being " Iras" is a bit confusing.

I would agree, this is a 19th century piece.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by milandro

I would agree with Sundag Sulu ,

The ganja being " Iras" is a bit confusing.

I would agree, this is a 19th century piece.

I don't think the ganja is 'iras', but seperate (but very tight / narrow).

[David]

Originally Posted by Maurice

I don't think the ganja is 'iras', but seperate (but very tight / narrow).

I agree, this is not gangya iras, just a really nice, tight fit. I also feel this could be Sulu, but don't really see the central fuller as a Malay influence. At least i have a kris which is clearly Moro to my mind that has a very similar central fuller to this one, so i don't see it as a feature that is only found on Malay sundangs. Sorry, but i have never photographed that kris so i can't show it right know.
It does seem to be that the tip has been somewhat reshaped. I can't tell from the photos whether there is any significant loss of length though.
Over all a beautiful, original and complete kris. Nice find Adam!

[Sajen]

I am with Raymundo and think the kris is from Mindanao, compare the scabbards, Adams and the one from Ian which is from Sulu.
Very nice kris Adam!

[RobT]

adamb,

It is a bit hard to tell for sure from your photos but the baca baca appears to be the one piece variety where the part that goes under the hilt wrap is integral with the part that wraps around the blade. Can you confirm this? From what I have seen, these one piece baca baca are invariably found on kris with tightly fitted ganja (as I believe your example to be) or with ganja iras.

Sincerely,
RobT

[adamb]

Thank you, everyone, for your extremely valuable observations.

To answer one of the above queries, yes, at some stage the scabbard was daubed, rather roughly, in yellow paint. The yellow paint, I should note, is clearly on top of the edges of the old label bearing the inscription and thus quite evidently post-dates it. There is also a crack in the scabbard that runs through this label. The fibre string binding on the scabbard might pre-date the yellow paint job, though I'm not sure about that; there seems to have been an attempt to glue the binding in place on the scabbard after it had been painted, so perhaps the binding was moved to paint below it and then shifted back into place.

Now to the inscription on the label: it's rather odd. Parts of the writing are not well-preserved and I'm working on taking close-up photographs with the hope I can decipher some or all of it in time. However, the part of the inscription that does seem legible to me and some colleagues (and, I should note, was for the most part already deciphered by the former owner's wife who spent considerable time, and ingenuity, reconstructing the text) is as follows:

"...[it was?] a present from the .... [illegible] Timor to Admrl Lord Nelson".

I am told by a historian colleague that the label "is in a neat English secretarial hand of the 19th century...the same style starts to pop up as early as the 1670s and remains quite similar after that".

I do not know what to make of this inscription at the present time, but it is interesting.

There is more writing in black ink, newer and in a different hand, over the yellow paint on the top of the cross-piece, which is as follows:

"Clayton Co", followed by an "M" below it.

I have attached pics of the label, including one in which I've used an image enhancement program to show the writing more clearly, perhaps not very successfully. (Apologies in advance if any images are rotated 90 degrees, I do not why this happens when I upload images to the system).

NB: The former owner of this keris from whom I acquired it bought it at a gun show in Brisbane, Australia, in the 80s or 90s; I'm told that the person who was selling it at that time casually mentioned the label but did not seem to attach much significance to it.

Any insight much appreciated!