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’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.

Object facts

• Title: Sword (Barong)
• Date: before 1916
• Culture: Philippines, Sulu or Basilan
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: Blade: metal inlaid with brass; handle: metal with silver foil, braided wire, and repoussé work; pommel: kamagong hardwood with bone inlay
• Dimensions: Overall: 68.3 cm (26 7/8 in.); Blade: 45.5 cm (17 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1916.730

A detail from the museum

The cockatoo-shaped pommel symbolizes vigilance and status among the Moro people of the southern Philippines.

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.