Maranao Sundang

[P.Abrera]

Originally Posted by nacho

Yes, that's exactly how many of the blades in the exhibit looked like -- polished blades like stainless steel. I guess they must been polished to make them look nice for the exposition and then kept all these years. That's why they look that way.

I also collect ivory santos and we know that 100 year-old ivory kept inside a glass virina can look new and without the yellowing we call patina. I guess for 100 year-old kris pommels, the same thing can be expected. Meaning they can look new if kept/stored all these years.

Thanks for the heads-up on the exhibit. It is indeed a mix of the St. Luis Expo as well as some items already part of the museums collection. As it turns out it wont be open to the public for a while yet but can be viewed with appointment.

It's the most extensive local exhibit I've seen, unfortunately, almost all the moro weapons have had an over-enthusiastic cleaning. On some all patina has been removed in the quest to reveal bright metal. And all that have been cleaned bear evidence of having been cleaned with (gasp) a course grit belt grinder/sander. They could all have done with a bit more tlc than they recieved. I'm sure quite a few of them lost a touch of grace from their profiles from the less than delicate cleaning. A couple are also displayed with their handles on backwards and many are now missing asang-asang and handle crests, surely stripped from the swords long ago for the precious metals and ivory. A couple of the budjak spears appear to have once been "painted" silver as well. Thankfully there are only traces of the paint left now. It would be nice if the museum was open to some tips on how to better care and display their collection. Some ren wax should have been all that was done to the pieces. The visayan swords are in much better shape (and are of a good cross section of the vast variety) and there are a couple of unusual pieces there. Certainly worth the trip.

But yes, to answer your question, I am certain all but a couple of blades in the moro collection there would display a piled or laminated blade construction from non-homogenous steels given a proper cleaning and etch.

[Nonoy Tan]

The exhibit of the 1904 specimens at the Phil National Museum has been taking some time to open. For some reason, prep work has been quite show. I learned about it a year ago and thereafter visited in Oct 2007 to chekout the on-and-off prep work. Noticed some errors in the display (e.g. inverted Tinggian shield, etc.) and humbly pointed it out to the staff who were glad to correct them. Indeed, the exhibit would be something worth visiting. By the way, I've been given the opportunity by the museum curator to photograph and document the weapons in the museum inventory and hope to be able to share (publish) these for everyone in the future. Meanwhile, I've been preparing to complete an appropriate photo studio/equipment set-up for this purpose