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Sword (Barong)
before 1918
- Medium
- Blade: metal; grip: silver; handle: wood with ivory inlay
- Classification
- Arms and Armor
- Dimensions
- Overall: 59.8 cm (23 9/16 in.); Blade: 38.1 cm (15 in.)
- Culture
- Philippines, Mindanao
- 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 has a broad, leaf-shaped blade characteristic of the Sulu Archipelago. Its profile suggests it was used for powerful cut-and-slash fighting. The hilt, carved from kamagong hardwood, terminates in an elongated ivory cockatoo (kakatua) pommel. Decorative ivory inlay is embedded into the kamagong surface, forming geometric and dotted patterns that follow the natural curves of the hilt.
