The (unintentional) artistry of edged weapons
 

People of great artistic temperament can find beauty in even the most mundane objects. I'm not a person of artistic temperament, but there is one edged weapon that strikes me as having a fantastic artistic form. I am a great fan of the Moro barung as an object of art, especially those created before 1900 and made of humble steel, wood, and silver.

Here is one such example that I find aesthetically pleasing:


It is a well preserved sword from the mid-19th C that, for me, shows gracefulness in its various curves. The arched spine of the blade, offset by its belly and curved edge. The slender grip covered in a plain silver punto and capped with the smooth curves of an old style of kakatua pommel. Simple and elegant, but balanced overall, and an ensemble that is most pleasing to the eye.

Beauty does not necessarily mean a lot of bells and whistles, nor exotic or expensive materials. Even simple, highly functional, "plain" weapons can display great skill in their aesthetic design.

What are your favorite weapons as works of art?


A few more pics of this barung:

What a fascinating topic Ian! and the example you show is remarkably perfect as an example of how a relatively simple weapon form is indeed quite beautiful aesthetically.
It is interesting that collectors are attracted to certain forms of weapon with their focus on the artistic beauty of forms as far as decoration, styling, materials used etc. while others follow other courses of attraction.

For me, as an arms historian, my attraction is more to the darkened, often deeply patinated examples of forms left untouched. However, I will admit certain weapon forms are more appealing from certain character, such as old cutlasses, cavalry sabers etc.

There are the specialized forms such as the keris, a formidable subject area, and the incredible artistic value of not only the blades, but the hiltwork.

I look forward to examples showing the many weapon forms in their artistic perspectives!

Talking about the elegance of curves...

Indeed! Beautiful design and craftsmanship. Thank you Marius.

Jim, thank you for your comment about the darkened old warrior that has survived numerous adventures and can tell us many tales of victory and defeat. The scrapes and nicks of a hard life express their own artistic forms and testify to the nature and experiences of the instrument before us. Thanks Jim.