Antique Moro Kris ca. Late 19th C, 13 Luk Blade, w/Original Scabbard, Provenance

Description

Antique Moro Kris with 13-Luk Blade and Original Scabbard,
Provenance, dating to ca. 1900
Out of my personal collection I present to you an antique Moro kris with its original scabbard. If you're reading this listing, you are already have some familiarity with Moro culture and history so I will not bother repeating it here. However, I will tell you of its chain of provenance. This sword was brought back from the Philippines by a Spanish American War veteran sometime after 1900. The Moro insurrection lasted until approx. 1914, but he had returned home well before then. I met his daughter, who was 91 at the time, in the early '00s. She had responded to an ad I had placed to purchase knives and swords. I bought this from her along with his officer's sword and a photograph (see above).
The sword, as with all Moro blades, is
sharp
. It has an OAL of 26 1/2 inches with a blade measuring 21 3/4 inches to the hilt. The blade has 13 luk with no visible twist core.  There is (very) minor spotting and pitting as shown, both consistent with the age of the sword. The stirrups are made of (low-grade) silver. The kakatua pommel is damaged as shown - a cursory look will show the damage is old. There are cracks on either side but they are stable and have not progressed in my 17 years of ownership of this weapon. The scabbard has seen better days and has sustained damage over the years (though not under my stewardship) but is original to the sword. Its binding has come off on the upper half, leaving it split as shown. It should be noted that the scabbards were often intended to be ephemeral so to retain the original scabbard in any condition is noteworthy.
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About Me
I have been collecting art and artifacts for over 35 years. I long ago learned that artifacts aren't merely things, but tangible time machines that transport us to another time, place, and culture. This lesson was imparted by my grandparents, who lived and worked in Africa and the Middle East in the decades following WW2. I was blessed to grow up around art and artifacts from a myriad of different cultures. I consider myself to be an "encyclopedic collector," with a focus on breadth over depth. While we all have a unique history, these artifacts represent the journey we have collectively taken together over the past 10,000 years - our Earth - Nostra Terra.
While we are grateful not to have lost any family, the pandemic has cost my wife her career and me my business. We now find ourselves in a need to proverbially pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. So I now find myself needing to release some of these objets d'art back into the wild. Some of these have been in the family for three generations, some for two. And many I have acquired over the past 35 years myself.  Whatever it is you end up with, I sincerely hope it brings you the same joy it has brought me for so many years. Cheers.