A Barong with a fanciful story

blue lander · 15th December 2015, 05:49 PM

Just won the auction for this guy. Judging by the shape/style I believe it's a Tausug Barong from the early/mid 20tg century. According to the seller it was a wwII bring back from a sailor serving on the USS Charles W Flusher during the war.

According to the family the seller bought it from, "natives" had manufactured the blade from a downed Japanese aircraft! How cool is that? Those "natives" must have been darn good salesmen. I'll clean the blade off when I get it, I assume it'll be scrap metal rather than folded steel. Looks like a bit of be hilt is missing and maybe the tip of the scabbard too.

Sajen · 15th December 2015, 07:27 PM

Hello Blue,

would place it at the second quarter of the 20th century. Would like to see better pictures after you have received it.
It's very similar to this one from my collection: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=barong

Regards,
Detlef

blue lander · 15th December 2015, 08:19 PM

Cool, thanks. They do look similar in construction. I'll be interested to clean up the MOP on the scabbard. The circular bit seems to be a different color than the the rest of it, I wonder if that's just due to it being dirty or if it's a different material.

And I have to brag I won mine for even less than you paid for yours

although yours is nicer I guess.

Sajen · 15th December 2015, 10:44 PM

Yes, the circular piece seems to be from different material. It seems to be a bargain.

I am curious to see better pictures.

Regards,
Detlef

blue lander · 16th December 2015, 02:42 PM

I'm very curious to see how the wood in the hilt cleans up. Is it nicely figured like yours or is it just a plain piece of wood? Also curious if the ferrules are white metal or silver as well as the silver wire. If the wire is silver, is there any way to polish it?

And what's holding the scabbard together? Glue? Here's an auction pic of the back of the scabbard. I don't see any evidence it was ever bound with rattan or whatever.

Sajen · 16th December 2015, 05:34 PM

Hello Blue,

hope the the handle will show a nice grain, oil it and polish the wood with car polish, this works very fine. I doubt that the wire is metal, look more like fiber or something similar, when it is metal you can use "never dull", this don't let this ugly white traces compound metal polish will show. Scabbard halfes seems to be glued but you will know it soon as you have received it.

Regards,
Detlef

blue lander · 17th December 2015, 08:14 PM

It just arrived. I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet but it looks like the hilt might have some nice grain to it.

It's smaller and thinner than my other Barong, although it's still sturdy and heavily built. I didn't measure the blade but you can see its size in relation to a sheet of paper. The wrapping non the hilt are definitely wire. It looks like their used to be a "tail" to the hilt that's snapped off.

Pretty sure the blade is mono steel

Sajen · 18th December 2015, 05:33 PM

Look like a lot of work, parts of the ferrule are missing and the wire binding seems to be not original but attached because the hilt seems to be broken and it seems that the hilt has a lot of chips.
I am curious how it will look after cleaning.

Regards,
Detlef

15th December 2015, 05:49 PM	#1
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	A Barong with a fanciful story Just won the auction for this guy. Judging by the shape/style I believe it's a Tausug Barong from the early/mid 20tg century. According to the seller it was a wwII bring back from a sailor serving on the USS Charles W Flusher during the war. According to the family the seller bought it from, "natives" had manufactured the blade from a downed Japanese aircraft! How cool is that? Those "natives" must have been darn good salesmen. I'll clean the blade off when I get it, I assume it'll be scrap metal rather than folded steel. Looks like a bit of be hilt is missing and maybe the tip of the scabbard too. Attached Images

15th December 2015, 08:19 PM	#3
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	Cool, thanks. They do look similar in construction. I'll be interested to clean up the MOP on the scabbard. The circular bit seems to be a different color than the the rest of it, I wonder if that's just due to it being dirty or if it's a different material. And I have to brag I won mine for even less than you paid for yours although yours is nicer I guess. Last edited by blue lander; 15th December 2015 at 09:02 PM.

16th December 2015, 02:42 PM	#5
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	I'm very curious to see how the wood in the hilt cleans up. Is it nicely figured like yours or is it just a plain piece of wood? Also curious if the ferrules are white metal or silver as well as the silver wire. If the wire is silver, is there any way to polish it? And what's holding the scabbard together? Glue? Here's an auction pic of the back of the scabbard. I don't see any evidence it was ever bound with rattan or whatever. Attached Images

17th December 2015, 08:14 PM	#7
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	It just arrived. I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet but it looks like the hilt might have some nice grain to it. It's smaller and thinner than my other Barong, although it's still sturdy and heavily built. I didn't measure the blade but you can see its size in relation to a sheet of paper. The wrapping non the hilt are definitely wire. It looks like their used to be a "tail" to the hilt that's snapped off. Pretty sure the blade is mono steel Attached Images

15th December 2015, 07:27 PM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,514	Hello Blue, would place it at the second quarter of the 20th century. Would like to see better pictures after you have received it. It's very similar to this one from my collection: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=barong Regards, Detlef

15th December 2015, 10:44 PM	#4
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,514	Yes, the circular piece seems to be from different material. It seems to be a bargain. I am curious to see better pictures. Regards, Detlef

16th December 2015, 05:34 PM	#6
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,514	Hello Blue, hope the the handle will show a nice grain, oil it and polish the wood with car polish, this works very fine. I doubt that the wire is metal, look more like fiber or something similar, when it is metal you can use "never dull", this don't let this ugly white traces compound metal polish will show. Scabbard halfes seems to be glued but you will know it soon as you have received it. Regards, Detlef

18th December 2015, 05:33 PM	#8
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,514	Look like a lot of work, parts of the ferrule are missing and the wire binding seems to be not original but attached because the hilt seems to be broken and it seems that the hilt has a lot of chips. I am curious how it will look after cleaning. Regards, Detlef