Sword (Barong) (before 1916): Art, History and Details

Sword (Barong) (before 1916) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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 terminates in an exceptionally long ivory cockatoo (kakatua) pommel, carved with delicate okir scrollwork. This was an object of authority, status, and ceremonial presence within Tausug culture, probably owned by a member of the datu ruling class.

Object facts

• Title: Sword (Barong)
• Date: before 1916
• Culture: Philippines, Mindanao, Sulu Archipelago
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: Blade: metal; handle: metal with silver foil and repoussé work; pommel: ivory and carabao horn
• Dimensions: Overall: 65.5 cm (25 13/16 in.); Blade: 42.2 cm (16 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1916.729

A detail from the museum

The ovular shape on the ivory pommel’s base marks where the nerve of the tooth was.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.