New Moro Kris Sheaths and handles for Comments

[alexish]

Dear Kai,

I enclose close-up of the Moro Kris Blade, as well as a picture of the original sheath.

Is the Kris Maranao, Maguidanao or Tausug?

[kai]

Dear Alexis, [or is it Alex/Alexish?]

I enclose close-up of the Moro Kris Blade, as well as a picture of the original sheath.

Thanks! Pics of the other 3 would certainly be of interest, too!

That's a genuine Moro kris, probably from around the turn of 19th/20th century or a tad earlier. The sogokan may be a bit stiff but otherwise is looks like a really decent example of approx. average quality - I'd love to see the laminations upon re-etching!

Is the Kris Maranao, Maguidanao or Tausug?

I'm inclined to believe that this is a Sulu blade; OTOH, this style is usually associated with Maranao origin and this would be one of the latest examples of this type I remember seeing from Sulu. The scabbard is from Mindanao though...


One last comment: The original fittings of this kris from post #21 seem pretty much intact. I'm sure with a little TLC they will look orders of magnitude more appropriate than any modern dress! And IMHO more beautiful (despite average materials and craftsmanship)!

Regards,
Kai

[alexish]

Kai, one more question.

Can you rank the 3 different Kris types - Sulu, Maranao and Maguidanao in terms of rarity?

[kai]

Can you rank the 3 different Kris types - Sulu, Maranao and Maguidanao in terms of rarity?

That's a question which I never asked myself...

I guess it is fair to say that none of them are uncommon or rare but reasonably exact percentages elude me and I'm also not sure how to perform representative sampling (in the US or Bangsamoro?); all I know is that my own collection is not representative.

Moreover, there are subgroups and distinct ethnic groups - especially Sulu should be subdivided into Tausug, Samal, Yakan, etc. Borneo hosts Tausug, Iranum, Brunei Malays, etc. (Reliable identification is tough though making this practically impossible.)

So, why are you asking?

Regards,
Kai

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

So, why are you asking?

Good question.

[alexish]

My personal own observation based on availability of old antique Moro krises for sale or on auction, is that Maranao is the most common, followed by Maguidanao and then Sulu. Do you guys have similar observations?

[David]

Originally Posted by alexish

My personal own observation based on availability of old antique Moro krises for sale or on auction, is that Maranao is the most common, followed by Maguidanao and then Sulu. Do you guys have similar observations?

My own personal observation is that the vast majority of antique Moro kris for sale or on auction do not make any tribal distinctions at all in their descriptions and that when they do they are not always accurate.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by alexish

My personal own observation based on availability of old antique Moro krises for sale or on auction, is that Maranao is the most common, followed by Maguidanao and then Sulu. Do you guys have similar observations?

What we see online is not a fair representation of the Moro kris that have been created over the last several hundred years.

The kris from the Sulu Archipelago are likely to be under represented because of a relative lack of contact and trade between U.S. and other Western groups with the Sulu Moros compared with the Moro groups based on Mindanao. In particular, US servicemen and others were interacting with relatively friendly Moro groups on Mindanao (notably those Maguindanao controlled by Datu Piang around Reina Regente) in the early 1900s, and Col. Pershing established reasonable relations with Maranao groups of the Lake Lanao region following some punitive expeditions in the early 1900s.

The Moro groups of the smaller Sulu Archipelago islands were more troublesome and led to several major armed conflicts, with many ongoing skirmishes. While some weapons were confiscated in these conflicts, the opportunity to obtain Sulu kris via trade or barter was less than among the Mindanao groups. What we do see online are more barung than kris coming from the Sulu areas, and this may have reflected a preference by the Sulu groups for the barung, but, again, such observations need to be interpreted cautiously.

It's an interesting question you raise but one that cannot be answered with any confidence based on the relative numbers of weapons showing up online.

Ian.

[alexish]

For comparison, I also enclose pictures of a new kris sheath that I comissioned in Malaysia about 10 years ago.