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20th July 2020, 10:21 AM
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#1 |
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Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 57
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my latest barung (chinese markings)
I recently got this one, rusty and chipped blade, but i decided to still get it because of the hilt. i know it is silver ferule and silver string wrap (or silver alloy)
after cleanup, chinese markings came out. a chinese friend says it reads "CLAW" or at least thats the nearest meaning to the chinese characters. i dont intend to grind out the big chip as i believe it tells a story of how the blade lived its life before. additional insights are welcome. i have asked friends and they dated this to late 1800s to early 1900s. Chinese steel, moro craftsmanship. |
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20th July 2020, 01:23 PM
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#2 |
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Sweden
Posts: 405
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Looks amazing after the cleaning!
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21st July 2020, 02:17 PM
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#3 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 752
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I like the blades pattern welding. Smart decision on not grinding out the big chip, if you did, it would look funny.
I mirror Victrix’s comments. |
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22nd July 2020, 04:58 PM
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#4 |
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EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 6,570
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That barong looks like a sipput barong with that slender blade. Might be from Palawan where they are made. I like the striped laminations.
You did a nice job of of clean up. Also the "Chinese" characters are a sign of being made from a Chinese smith, and thus to be a more valuable and better made blade. The only problem is that some of these characters are faked and placed on blades to make them look like they're more valuable to command higher prices (like "Andrea Ferrar" on Scottish basket hilt swords). So it would be good to get this looked at who can read Chinese. |
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23rd July 2020, 02:21 AM
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#5 |
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Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 57
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thank you guys,
The chinese markings read "CLAW" according to a friend who speaks chinese. But as i understand it, this is chinese steel (imported to mindanao) and crafted by the locals, stamped with the "chinese brand" to distinguish itself from the local sourced steels (no stamps). because back then, chinese steel imports are better regarded as to quality. thus fetching higher prices. my question is: do faked chinese stamps often have symbols with no meanings? |
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23rd July 2020, 04:16 AM
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#6 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
Posts: 755
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looks russian to me
The symbols look like an attempt to render the Cyrillic letters T over P in a semi-cursive form.
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23rd July 2020, 07:05 AM
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#7 |
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 7,078
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Very nice barong!
 And a good cleaning job like others mentioned before.  But I would try to polish the blade a little bit more. What you use to reattach the handle? Regards, Detlef |
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23rd July 2020, 03:35 PM
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#8 | |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Witness Protection Program
Posts: 1,720
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Quote:
not just faked chinese stamps, but some legit ones as well might or might not have any meanings. understand that a lot of Moros back in the days can't really read chinese characters. they see what appears to be chinese characters and it's assumed it's imported steel, hence a better quality. |
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19th August 2020, 02:32 AM
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#9 | |
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Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 57
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Quote:
hi Detlef, sorry to have responded so late, i used 2part epoxy to reattach the handle to the hilt (might be sacrilege to some?). i will try to polish the blade a bit more in the future when time allows. PBH |
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19th August 2020, 05:09 PM
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#10 | |
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 7,078
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Quote:
Hi PBH, Not really when you have given the epoxy the correct colour. The blade shows a very nice pattern, worth to invest some time and elbow grease!  Regards, Detlef |
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20th August 2020, 12:42 AM
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#11 |
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EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 6,570
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What is nice about epoxy is that if something else happens to the piece, with heat you can remove the hilt (though more heat than traditional pitch).
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26th August 2020, 01:24 PM
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#12 |
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Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 3,002
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Another barung with similar markings.
. |
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26th August 2020, 05:14 PM
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#13 |
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EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 6,570
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Here is mine with Chinese marks.
Would someone please translate mine too? |
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26th August 2020, 05:35 PM
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#14 |
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Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 3,002
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Jose, it appears that our barung share a common character closest to the hilt, although they have been struck slightly differently so that a part of each has not come out completely. They were likely struck with the same die and came from the same panday--quite a coincidence. Together they define the whole original character. We should get a good translation of that one.
Interesting that both blades come with better than average hilts (yours is excellent BTW) suggesting that these blades were considered high quality. |
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