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Sword (Barong)
before 1916
- Medium
- Blade: metal inlaid with brass; handle: metal with silver foil, braided wire, and repoussé work; pommel: kamagong hardwood with bone inlay
- Classification
- Arms and Armor
- Dimensions
- Overall: 68.3 cm (26 7/8 in.); Blade: 45.5 cm (17 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- Philippines, Sulu or Basilan
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Oceania
- Credit line
- Gift of J. H. Wade
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This sword’s hilt is carved from a dense Philippine hardwood known as kamagong and takes the form of a stylized cockatoo (kakatua), a motif characteristic of Tausug and Yakan sword hilts. Its broad, leaf-shaped steel blade is single-edged at the base and double-edged near the tip, making it ideal for thrusting in both warfare and ceremony.
