Sword (Barong) (before 1918): Art, History and Details

Sword (Barong) (before 1918) 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, 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.

Object facts

• Title: Sword (Barong)
• Date: before 1918
• Culture: Philippines, Mindanao
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: Blade: metal; grip: silver; handle: wood with ivory inlay
• Dimensions: Overall: 59.8 cm (23 9/16 in.); Blade: 38.1 cm (15 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1918.644

A detail from the museum

This object’s ivory inlay is unusual—bone or mother of pearl were more common.

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.