Moro kris with silver inlays and Damascus blade
This is my best (and thoroughly unexpected) find in my 8th year of blade collecting. I had to woo this from an antique dealer for 7 years until he finally agreed. It's a kris sword made by the Maguindanaon Moro tribe, likely mid to late 1800s. It has a 22.5in blade, 27.5in overall.
The simple wooden hilt has a brass ferrule. There are silver inlays at the base of the blade- arrows and circles for an apotropaic purpose.
The twistcore blade has 4 bars at the center panel.
The whole sword was originally heavily rusted, so I alternated between vinegar immersion and hand polish before the pattern was revealed. I further etched it with dental etchant (I know FeCl3 is the best choice, but I can't use it at home). It's my first time to encounter a kris which has both silver inlays and twistcore blade.