# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Chinese, South-East Asia (CSEA) >  Antique Barong and Kris from the Philippines (Huge photo warning)

## David Lewis Smith

Sometimes something marvelous happens to you, or in this case falls into your hands.  There is long story behind these that is almost as marvelous as these blades, they were given to a friend of mine for saving an old mans life, I know it sounds a bit of a cliché, but I know the man who I got these from, and surface it to say, he goes to odd places more than I do, and under the same job title.  Unfortunately the recent crunch has hit him hard and now these are mine.   I intend on reselling them, but before I do I want to share them with my friends here.
  These are from the Sulu Archipelago, Jolo City, on Jolo Island.  The barong has a very strong damascus pattern, and is very comfortable in the hand.  The kris is also folded, and shows a level of detail that Is only very rarely seen.  
  I think all of you can appreciate the age of these, both are a bit over  one hundred years old, and both were used in the Maro uprising, the only other kris like this I have seen is in the West Point Museum,
  I will post stats and more detailed photos in the next few days,  some of the detail is remarkable.  The barong scabbard has been redone, unfortunately the choice of cloth was ill-advised but it does have a charm to it.  

As most of you know, these are not "my thing" so in the next few they are going to go to financing a custom migration sword (yeah, i know, I am stupid for giving  these up)


The scabbard is a single piece of would, no glueing

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## David Lewis Smith

close up of the kris blade

Barong hilt

and the blade close up


As you can see I need to do some clean up on this, but want to proceed very carefully

Any help on that would be appreciated.

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## David Lewis Smith

The wood work has all been redone on these, the barong scabbard has a few interesting features that tomorrows photos will show, and folks will get a laugh out of

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## josh stout

You always come up with the most amazing things.  I love the piled construction on the barong.  Have you tried a mild etch on the kris?  Sometimes they turn out to be twistcore.
Josh

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## Kai W.

Hello David, 

The fittings on your pieces look fairly recent: the barong pommel is a late variant and both scabbards are post-WW2, I guess. Dimensions for both blades would be good. Any close-up of the kris pommel?

The barong blade is interesting - almost looks like nickel pamor (not usual for that neck of the woods). Could you please post a pic of the whole blade (both sides)?

Have you verified that the gangya (piece at the base of the kris blade) is really separate - sometimes the angled "separation line" is just engraved. Looks like a 20th c. blade to me but I'd certainly like to see it etched...

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## David Lewis Smith

> Hello David, 
> 
> The fittings on your pieces look fairly recent: the barong pommel is a late variant and both scabbards are post-WW2, I guess. Dimensions for both blades would be good. Any close-up of the kris pommel?
> 
> The barong blade is interesting - almost looks like nickel pamor (not usual for that neck of the woods). Could you please post a pic of the whole blade (both sides)?
> 
> Have you verified that the gangya (piece at the base of the kris blade) is really separate - sometimes the angled "separation line" is just engraved. Looks like a 20th c. blade to me but I'd certainly like to see it etched...


both pieces were rebuilt in the Philippines in the last 2 years or so.
I have no idea what you mean by gangya
I am not going to etch at this time, right now looking for more info and they fall out side my lines of expertise so I do not want to do anything bad to them

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## David Sorcher

Hi David. By "gangya" Kai is referring to the part of the blade at the base where it attaches to the hilt that forms the guard of the sword. In most pre-1930s kris this is a separate piece. After that date the sword is usually all one piece and a line is merely etched into the blade to indicate a separate piece. I see why Kai might me suspicious of this one. I would need to get a much closer look on this one to tell. So what he wants to know: is it just an etched line or is it a separate piece. Obviously if this sword was made post-1930 could not have taken part in the Moro insurrection. 
The details of this blade are very nice, but they are not extraordinary or particularly rare. And since the dress is all new (though very nice) i would think it even less rare. Just something to keep in mind when you are trying to sell this piece.
Etching Moro blades takes little expertise and is completely reversible. Vinegar is probably the best thing to use. It is slow and gentle. It helps if the blade is warmed (by the sun) and if the vinegar is also a little warm. You just keep wiping it with a soaked cloth until the blade darkens and (hopefully) a contrasting pattern appears. A slurry of baking soda and water will neutralize the acids of the vinegar. If you don't like what you see you can easily polish it out.
The barong blade does appear to be a bit unusal. As Kai pointed out, it looks like it has been forged with a contrasting material that at least gives the effect of nickel, like you would find on an Indonesian kris. Very interesting.

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