Gunong?

[Federico]

Spunjer is the blade hardened? I have a piece with a similar hilt and guard, but the balde is junk. Features aluminum bands on the scabbard. MOP may indicate WWII era.

[Spunjer]

federico,
yes the blade is hardened. this came from the collection of someone by the named of marcel gibrat, who was an art restorer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1957 to 1965. i don't if any of you are familiar with that name. btw, is MOP a dead giveaway for a mid 20th cent. filipino weapon? i'm not just talking about this gunong, but other weapons such as moro and visayan stuff as well. just curious...

[Ian]

Spunjer:

MOP may have been used earlier than WWII on scabbards, but I have not seen a convincing example. Perhaps others have.

Ian.

[tom hyle]

It seems like one sees it on older kris sundang and barong scabbards? It's certainly not the MOP per se that I for my part was citing as Visayan-looking nor as modern, but the manner in which it is worked, in the pointy shapes with jagged edges.

[Federico]

MOP is like any other dating feature/guess, it is not complete on its own, but can provide a hint. There are definitely swords pre-WWII from all over PI that feature MOP. I have seen some on scabbards from the 30s (notably talibong/garab/ok I forgot the last newest term for these weapons being bandied about), and earlier. But what sets apart the older use of MOP, at least in those piece that I have encountered, has been the usage. Usually alot more sparingly, and not as prolific as post WWII pieces. Hence the maybe part in my earlier comment. Its presence may indicate WWII era or later, but it is sparing enough in its usage where it could be older. I dunno, thats just how I feel about it, never feel certain, and Im usually just guessing and spouting stuff out my behind (ooh killing my own credibility here). You can always do what I normally do at home, hold the piece, and let it decide for itself what age it is and where its from. Not an exact science, ok not a science or methodology at all, but it helps me sleep at night in lieu of burning questions

[Battara]

Federico is right. MOP was used earlier, like the turn of the century. Other clues help in pinning down the date. My basis for attributing this to early to mid 20c is the workmanship of the scabbard and hilt overall. It is possible that the blade is earlier, but the rest is a different matter. For example, I have seen such scabbard workmanship like this on mostly (and up to this point only) mid 20c examples. The cut of MOP is not the type of quality used in earlier pieces. For instance check out an earlier discussion and pics of a kalis I have that has MOP and is turn of the century:

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001825.html