Bird-head Panabas

[Lee]

Very much as the last moment I decided to go take a walk through the Hartford show and found the below odd bird at the table of a dealer who is clearing out a large ethnographic collection assembled a few decades ago for an estate.

This hilt is 12 and 1/2 inches long. The hardwood does not seem to have much age on it at all, but the silver ferrules and wire wrap are a bit loose, testifying to some shrinkage. I seriously doubt these are the first mountings for the blade.

I will, in due course, borrow a camera and get some photos of the blade taken and posted. For now, though, I would like to ask for your opinions on how much age this hilt has on it and whether it was made for local or tourist taste.

[Sajen]

When I remember correct there have been a thread about dha's with this type of hilt's, I will look for.

sajen

[Sajen]

Here it is:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2324
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5930&highlight=bird

sajen

[David]

The motifs on the silver bands look suspiciously Indonesian to me.

[Nathaniel]

Any pictures of the whole piece? Blade Dimensions? Thanks for sharing :)

[Lee]

Thanks to those who have commented thus far. I will drop some dimensions when I post pictures of the blade. I do not have overall pictures or detail pictures of the blade yet. But I do plead guilty to withholding mention of the nature of the blade for just a little bit longer as once one sees this blade, their opinion on this piece is likely to be set.

[Lee]

Two Ricks here Lee . ;) :D

Here's this Rick's opinion .

Blade length: 23 3/4 inches
Overall weight: 1.2 kg

I'm not sure Lee, sure looks like a Panabas with perhaps a swapped out Thai handle; married piece ?

AFAIK The Moro peoples never did hilt work such as this ... :shrug:

But there's something a bit strange about the 'Panabas' blade also ... :confused:

[Rick]

Sorry Lee, looks like I hit the edit bar when I meant to hit quote . :o :o
Please excuse .


It's been a long and very lousy day .. :(

[Andrew]

I don't think that hilt is Thai or Burmese, Lee. Some similarities to silverwork of the area, but different.

Interesting item.

[Lee]

But there's something a bit strange about the 'Panabas' blade also

Here is a closeup of the fretwork towards the tip of the blade. It is quite crisp, though not overly so, and I wonder whether it dates to the forging of the blade or may be contemporary with the handle.

[hideyoshi]

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5474&highlight=panabas

[RSWORD]

Lee,

Hideyoshi has good eyes not only to recognize the similarity of blade shape between his example and yours but also notice that your example most probably has a twist core central panel like that on Hideyoshi. You can see the clear line of demarcation and hints of a twisted pattern in between those lines. With this blade being twistcore and of general panabas shape, I strongly suspect the blade is Moro and the hilt is a later add on from who knows where. Very neat blade and you don't see twistcore panabai very often!

[Lee]

Rsword, Hideyoshi and you both have good eyes and are entirely correct in your suspicions. The blade was in a rack perpendicular to the front of the table with only the face I have previously been showing on view. Somehow I had just enough of a hint or the piled construction to ask to pick it up, and the opposite side - pictured below - was much more overt. I think some persons more expert than myself bypassed it without closer inspection owing to the enigma of the hilt.

My own suspicions are that the blade may well be 19th century or early 20th while the hilt has likely been made since the time of WWII. Personally, I do not believe this hilting to represent a tourist item or a Western bladesmith's fantasy piece - the hilt allows for an excellent grip and the balance is favorable - and the work is either too good or not good enough to recommend such classification. So I guess I will just have to live with the enigma until someone recognizes the style and can place the origin of the grip.

[Gavin Nugent]

Rsword, Hideyoshi and you both have good eyes and are entirely correct in your suspicions. The blade was in a rack perpendicular to the front of the table with only the face I have previously been showing on view. Somehow I had just enough of a hint or the piled construction to ask to pick it up, and the opposite side - pictured below - was much more overt. I think some persons more expert than myself bypassed it without closer inspection owing to the enigma of the hilt.

My own suspicions are that the blade may well be 19th century or early 20th while the hilt has likely been made since the time of WWII. Personally, I do not believe this hilting to represent a tourist item or a Western bladesmith's fantasy piece - the hilt allows for an excellent grip and the balance is favorable - and the work is either too good or not good enough to recommend such classification. So I guess I will just have to live with the enigma until someone recognizes the style and can place the origin of the grip.


And now you all know it is not alone in the world ;-)

Gav

[Battara]

I guess I come in late on this piece (and some how missed it) I think this hilt is late and not truly Moro. Moros would have traditionally used okir to make the hilt in an animal shape but not like this. Yes this is a little odd with 2 of them, but still I'm not sure the hilt is Moro or at least it is late in origin.

I would however place the okir bands and twisted silver bands as Sulu. I'm thinking therefore this is a later work on the hilt.

[Lee]

Gav & Battara - Sorry, I missed your replies of several months ago until now. I believe the hilt on mine is very recent and clearly not original to the old blade; Gav's hilt may be a little earlier than mine - but they really are 'birds of a feather' and it is nice to know that mine is not alone. Hopefully we will find out where these are coming from in due course. Probably a living artist.