Sword (Kalis or Sundang) (before 1916): Art, History and Details

Sword (Kalis or Sundang) (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 features a long kalis blade with a straight profile and deep fuller running nearly the entire length. The hilt terminates in an enormous ivory pommel, a prestige marker associated with high-ranking ownership in the Sulu and Lake Lanao regions. The commanding blade, functional and symbolic clamps, silver-braided grip, and pommel identify this as an exceptional example of elite Moro weaponry used among the Tausug or Maranao groups in the southern Philippines.

Object facts

• Title: Sword (Kalis or Sundang)
• Date: before 1916
• Culture: Philippines, Mindanao
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: Blade: metal; grip: brass ferrule and silver wire; pommel: ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 79.8 cm (31 7/16 in.); Blade: 60.4 x 3.9 cm (23 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.); Handle: 18 x 20 x 7.8 cm (7 1/16 x 7 7/8 x 3 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1916.744

A detail from the museum

The asang-asang (fish gill) clamps at the blade’s base stabilize it while referencing the purifying quality attributed to fish gills.

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.