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-   -   my latest barung (chinese markings) (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26110)

Pinoy Blade Hunter 20th July 2020 11:21 AM

my latest barung (chinese markings)
 
5 Attachment(s)
I recently got this one, rusty and chipped blade, but i decided to still get it because of the hilt. i know it is silver ferule and silver string wrap (or silver alloy)

after cleanup, chinese markings came out. a chinese friend says it reads "CLAW" or at least thats the nearest meaning to the chinese characters.

i dont intend to grind out the big chip as i believe it tells a story of how the blade lived its life before.

additional insights are welcome.

i have asked friends and they dated this to late 1800s to early 1900s. Chinese steel, moro craftsmanship.

Victrix 20th July 2020 02:23 PM

Looks amazing after the cleaning!

kino 21st July 2020 03:17 PM

I like the blades pattern welding. Smart decision on not grinding out the big chip, if you did, it would look funny.
I mirror Victrix’s comments.

Battara 22nd July 2020 05:58 PM

That barong looks like a sipput barong with that slender blade. Might be from Palawan where they are made. I like the striped laminations.

You did a nice job of of clean up.

Also the "Chinese" characters are a sign of being made from a Chinese smith, and thus to be a more valuable and better made blade. The only problem is that some of these characters are faked and placed on blades to make them look like they're more valuable to command higher prices (like "Andrea Ferrar" on Scottish basket hilt swords). So it would be good to get this looked at who can read Chinese.

Pinoy Blade Hunter 23rd July 2020 03:21 AM

thank you guys,

The chinese markings read "CLAW" according to a friend who speaks chinese.

But as i understand it, this is chinese steel (imported to mindanao) and crafted by the locals, stamped with the "chinese brand" to distinguish itself from the local sourced steels (no stamps). because back then, chinese steel imports are better regarded as to quality. thus fetching higher prices.

my question is: do faked chinese stamps often have symbols with no meanings?

Philip 23rd July 2020 05:16 AM

looks russian to me
 
The symbols look like an attempt to render the Cyrillic letters T over P in a semi-cursive form.

Sajen 23rd July 2020 08:05 AM

Very nice barong! :) And a good cleaning job like others mentioned before. :cool: But I would try to polish the blade a little bit more.
What you use to reattach the handle?

Regards,
Detlef

Spunjer 23rd July 2020 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinoy Blade Hunter
thank you guys,

The chinese markings read "CLAW" according to a friend who speaks chinese.

But as i understand it, this is chinese steel (imported to mindanao) and crafted by the locals, stamped with the "chinese brand" to distinguish itself from the local sourced steels (no stamps). because back then, chinese steel imports are better regarded as to quality. thus fetching higher prices.

my question is: do faked chinese stamps often have symbols with no meanings?

not just faked chinese stamps, but some legit ones as well might or might not have any meanings. understand that a lot of Moros back in the days can't really read chinese characters. they see what appears to be chinese characters and it's assumed it's imported steel, hence a better quality.

Pinoy Blade Hunter 19th August 2020 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sajen
Very nice barong! :) And a good cleaning job like others mentioned before. :cool: But I would try to polish the blade a little bit more.
What you use to reattach the handle?

Regards,
Detlef

hi Detlef,

sorry to have responded so late, i used 2part epoxy to reattach the handle to the hilt (might be sacrilege to some?). i will try to polish the blade a bit more in the future when time allows.

PBH

Sajen 19th August 2020 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinoy Blade Hunter
Sorry to have responded so late, i used 2part epoxy to reattach the handle to the hilt (might be sacrilege to some?). i will try to polish the blade a bit more in the future when time allows.

Hi PBH,

Not really when you have given the epoxy the correct colour. The blade shows a very nice pattern, worth to invest some time and elbow grease! ;)

Regards,
Detlef

Battara 20th August 2020 01:42 AM

What is nice about epoxy is that if something else happens to the piece, with heat you can remove the hilt (though more heat than traditional pitch).

Ian 26th August 2020 02:24 PM

2 Attachment(s)
Another barung with similar markings.


.

Battara 26th August 2020 06:14 PM

2 Attachment(s)
Here is mine with Chinese marks.

Would someone please translate mine too?

Ian 26th August 2020 06:35 PM

Jose, it appears that our barung share a common character closest to the hilt, although they have been struck slightly differently so that a part of each has not come out completely. They were likely struck with the same die and came from the same panday--quite a coincidence. Together they define the whole original character. We should get a good translation of that one.

Interesting that both blades come with better than average hilts (yours is excellent BTW) suggesting that these blades were considered high quality.


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