Important Collection of Antique Asian Arms
Lot 232:
This is a classic sword of the Moro people of the southern Philippines and of the Sulu Sea areacalled a kris. The classic Moro kris is based heavily on the Indonesian keris but is distinctlylarger and made purposefully for fighting. The kris has always been the most famous of allMoro weapons and there are a wide set of variation of blade types, handle forms, and materials.Generally all kris blades are wide at the base, double-edged, and can be waved, half-waved halfstraight, or straight in which case they were more practical in combat. Older kris had fewerwaves and the waves were deeper and wider. Over time the waves became shallower, tighter, andmore numerous and therefore required greater skill to prevent the blade bouncing off or beingstuck in an enemys body. Especially high quality kris would be mounted with twistcore blades.The twistcore design in the iron is inherent to the structure of the blade and serves not only thepurpose of creating a beautiful design but also to strengthen the blade. The twisted rodtechnique by which these patterns are achieved is also called pattern-welding. All of the patterns seen on Moro kris, and other swords with twistcore designs are built up from rodscomposed of several, frequently up to seven, alternating layers of varyingly irons. Because the trace elements in the iron vary from ore to ore, when they are twisted, welded together, forgedinto shape, and then cleaned and etched, the designs in the iron will stand out in lighter and darker tones. Rods with matching or complementary twist patterns were usually installed side by-side into the sword blade and on grinding away the outer surfaces of such rods the blade would display a series of patterns (Jones).One of the additional ways in which origins are identified are through the design of the elephant head trunk and cavity of the ganja. Generally Sulu kris have cavities which are elliptical inshape. The mouth cavity and lower jaw point downwards towards the base of the guard (Cato1996).This example in the Schmiedt Collection is a superb example of twistcore workmanship on a Moro kris displaying a very fine controlled twist core pattern throughout the 11 luk blade. Whilethe blade has an angular initial luk at the base of the blade, the remaining luk are softly crested. Coupled with the fine twist core pattern and the delicate waved fullering the overall workmanshipis likely late 19th century. The handle is a simple form but with a rare variant of pommel made of carved wood with multiple sides and which appears to be an earlier interpretation of ahorsehoof form. It is possible that the exaggerated horsehoof pattern evolved from this more subdued octagonal form which may approximate a flower more than a horsehoof. The grip isblack lacquered twine. Based on the ganja form and pommel the origin is likely Sulu.Late 19th century.Total Length (inside scabbard if present) : 28 1/4" Blade Length : 24 1/4".References:1. Cato, R. (1996) Moro swords. Graham Brash: Singapore2. Barados, D., (1995) Land of the Morning: Treasures of the Philippines, San FranciscoCraft & Folk Museum, 1995.3. Casal, G. et al, (1981) The People and Art of the Philippines, UCLA Museum ofCultural History4. Krieger, H. W. (1926). The collection of primitive weapons and armor of thePhilippine islands in the United States National museum. Washington: Govt. Print.Off.5. Macao Museum of Art. (2007). History of Steel in East Asia. Macao Museum of Art.Macau6. Wetzler, S. (2020) Steel and Magic. Edged Weapons of the Malay Archipelago.Edition Fichter, Frankfurt am Main7. Jones, L. Blade Patterns Intrinsic to Steel Edged Weapons.Detailed condition reports are not included in this catalog. For additional information, including condition reports, please contact us at [email protected]
Share this lot:
