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Originally Posted by Interested Party
I found this as collateral knowledge while researching another topic. To my eye at least one doesn't have the squared ricasso. I thought this was interesting. Are these Maranao piras as well?
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Sorry if I was unclear: it doesn't strictly have to be squared. Square-ish, or at the very least distinctly delineated from the edge (sometimes a line or a 'dimple') that begins to curve after.
That's only one indicator on the blade...there are others such as the orientation of the clip and tip as compared to the hilt axis and "tail," the curve trajectory of the edge, and if viewed from top, telltale signs from the spine.
There is no such thing as a Maranao pira. Pira is a Sulu blade, among others, that was copied by Tugaya craftsmen starting 1920s until the 1990s. They also copied other blades such as Lumad, and even from Luzon and Visayan areas; sometimes they re-dressed legit Luzon and Visayan blades with fantastic dresses to make them 'exotic' to tourist eyes.
I've personally taken apart a wide range of old Tugaya tourist products and I can assure you, most of them have no heat treatment or made of inferior metal and materials. Some even have nonexistent tangs and are just glued to the hilt cleverly.