an archaic Kalis

[Spunjer]

thanks for everyone's response so far...

i'm posting a provenanced "archaic" kris that was purchased in Mindanao around december of 1899. the question would be, was this piece old (as in over a century old) when it was purchased? or was it purchased new? notice the how the black inlay is perfectly intact. btw, as a side note, there were other weapons that was purchased with this particular kris, including a huge Junggayan kalis and a gasah. i believe on one of the tags, it was stated that it was purchased in a marketplace. please understand though, that the officer that bought these weapons was one of the first americans that was sent by the Army to Mindanao to negotiate with the Moros, so it begs the question: if they bought these weapons in an open market, then who were the intended customers of these enterprising moros? it's hard to imagine that there would be lots visiting spaniards and filipinos from up north visiting these marketplaces...
anyway, back to the topic:
i did the hot water test on it and it does appear that it might be laminated. i might have to etch it sometimes in the future and will post it then.
jose, regarding your inquiry whether the ivory were pieced together: no, they are not. it's just that on the side were the appendage broke off, it appears like that area was filled in with pieces of ivory. weird, really...
Kai, keen observation there! i would love to see the mindanao version. i'm still looking for that post in which mabagani mentioned on how the kris became the unifying symbol of the Moros during Kudarat's era.
rick, you have a good point there, but how fast did this particular type of sword spread throughout the Moroland? one generation? two? just thinking out loud...