Cleveland Museum of Art

Sword (Kalis or Sundang)

Date

before 1918

Medium

Blade: metal; handle: metal with silver and braided twine; pommel: ivory

Culture

Philippines, Mindanao

Department

Oceania

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This sword’s blade is straight near the tip and transitions into gentle undulations toward the lower half. The guard consists of pierced okir wings, secured on one side by a single asang-asang clamp (also called baca-baca by the Maranao). The hilt is wrapped in dark fiber or rattan bindings and metal ferrules, and fitted with a small, comparatively modest cockatoo ( kakatua ) form. The asang-asang —literally “fish gill”—stabilizes the blade while referencing the purifying quality attributed to fish gills.

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