View Full Version : Go on..... show us your Sumara
Sajen
19th February 2012, 04:40 PM
Hello members,
since never before at this place was shown a Sumara I want to share my one with you because I think that this are very beautiful and unusual swords.
The very nice and fine carved handle is set together from two pieces of horn. At the scabbard which is also from two pieces of wood held together by finely wooven rotan (?) bands you will find as well some nice carvings. The end piece of the sheath is a later replacement and not the original one. The sword in scabbard is 81 cm long and the blade is 47 cm.
Hope to see some other nice examples. ;)
Regards,
Detlef
danny1976
19th February 2012, 10:07 PM
Hi Detlef ,
Nice piece with great carvings on the handle !
Sajen
20th February 2012, 10:29 AM
Hi Detlef ,
Nice piece with great carvings on the handle !
Hi Danny,
thank you my friend!:)
No other sumara in the collections of our members? Michael?? ;)
Battara
20th February 2012, 03:01 PM
Wish I had one............but yours is nice. Yes love the hilt carvings.
Flavio
20th February 2012, 03:22 PM
I Sajen! Sumara are quite rare and yours is very nice. Maybe we will see maybe one or two more.... :p
Sajen
20th February 2012, 03:35 PM
Wish I had one............but yours is nice. Yes love the hilt carvings.
Thank you Jose! :)
Sajen
20th February 2012, 03:37 PM
I Sajen! Sumara are quite rare and yours is very nice. Maybe we will see maybe one or two more.... :p
Hi Flavio,
also to you many thanks! Hope as well to see some more! ;) :D
Flavio
20th February 2012, 03:49 PM
Hi Flavio,
also to you many thanks! Hope as well to see some more! ;) :D
Me tooooo!!! :) :) :) I have a Penai, but not a Sumara :(
Sajen
20th February 2012, 04:24 PM
Me tooooo!!! :) :) :) I have a Penai, but not a Sumara :(
Have changed the title of the thread, so your pictures are very welcome!! :D
Flavio
20th February 2012, 05:22 PM
Have changed the title of the thread, so your pictures are very welcome!! :D
:D :D :D :D :D
Here we go ;)
I think that now we will have more pictures :p
Sajen
20th February 2012, 05:45 PM
Hi Flavio,
thank you! A nice sword you have there, the carvings are very similar. And the blade is in much better condition as my one.
Let's hope to see more examples! ;)
Maurice
20th February 2012, 06:33 PM
Nice swords.
Unfortunately I don't own one, but I handled several of them.
If I would buy one, I'm going for one wrapped in tinfoil....
Hope to see one in this thread!
Maurice
VVV
20th February 2012, 07:13 PM
Nice Sumara Detlef!
It seems that I have lost the pictures of one of them. So here it is with its cousins on my Toraja wall. And then an older one but without scabbard...
Michael
Sajen
20th February 2012, 08:21 PM
Hi Michael,
very very nice your Toraja wall! :eek: And so I have been correct when i "call" your name. The old type sumara is just beautiful, I only have seen one before.
How is named the sword with the hair at the handle?
Regards,
Detlef
Sajen
20th February 2012, 08:27 PM
Nice swords.
Unfortunately I don't own one, but I handled several of them.
If I would buy one, I'm going for one wrapped in tinfoil....
Hope to see one in this thread!
Maurice
Hi Maurice,
nice to "see" you here again! :) ;)
I never have seen one wrapped in tinfoil so I hope as well to see here one!
Regards,
Detlef
Maurice
20th February 2012, 08:32 PM
Very nice examples Michael!
Thank you Detlef. I've added two images from the Leiden museum collection.
I've seen a similar for sale some years ago, but unfortunately I wasn't able to grab it at the time...
Maurice
Sajen
20th February 2012, 08:39 PM
Thank you Detlef. I've added two images from the Leiden museum collection.
I've seen a similar for sale some years ago, but unfortunately I wasn't able to grab it at the time...
Maurice
Thank you for the pictures! I think I have to look more at the site from the Leiden museum. :) When I look at the both examples I direct get the thought that maybe all was wrapped at one time with tinfoil.. :shrug:
Regards,
Detlef
VVV
20th February 2012, 08:56 PM
Detlef,
The one with hair is also a Penai. They changed the top of the hilt depending on what use they had in mind (war, rituals etc.). Unlike for the mandau it seems that it always is human hair on these Penai.
Michael
Sajen
20th February 2012, 09:22 PM
Detlef,
The one with hair is also a Penai. They changed the top of the hilt depending on what use they had in mind (war, rituals etc.). Unlike for the mandau it seems that it always is human hair on these Penai.
Michael
Thank you Michael, again, a beautiful display with very nice swords!
Maurice
16th August 2012, 02:41 PM
Unfortunately I don't own one, but I handled several of them.
If I would buy one, I'm going for one wrapped in tinfoil....
Hope to see one in this thread!
Maurice
Here's my new find!
Hopefully there are some remnants of tin foil, which would do also to get me satisfied.... ;)
I'm very pleased some of the "almost ever" missing cord is still there..
Sajen
16th August 2012, 04:23 PM
Hi Maurice,
very nice example! :eek: Seems to have a nice pamor. please post more pictures when you have received it.
Regards,
Detlef
Maurice
30th August 2012, 10:12 PM
Hi Maurice,
very nice example! :eek: Seems to have a nice pamor. please post more pictures when you have received it.
Regards,
Detlef
OK Detlef, I got it and was very pleasantly surprised of the quality, which wasn't shown in the images of the seller clearly.
I'm collecting Borneo, but think I will not be able to trade/ part with this one, as it's a pure headhunting sword (though from Celebes).
Look at the complicated knotted hair at the handle of one of the victims!
Also a great surplus is that the blade is covered with tin. As I said before this was done with swords which had taken heads! Unfortunately some rust comes through here and there, but I decided not to clean it, avoiding loosing some of the tin (which I definately not want).
Regards,
Maurice
asomotif
21st October 2012, 08:47 PM
Look at the complicated knotted hair at the handle of one of the victims!
Hi Maurice,
Just wanted to add that the way of tying the hair is exactly the same as on the 3 celebes spears that I own.
Unfortunately the spears are decorated with monkey or dyed goat hair. :shrug:
Best regards,
Willem
Maurice
21st October 2012, 09:26 PM
Hi Maurice,
Just wanted to add that the way of tying the hair is exactly the same as on the 3 celebes spears that I own.
Unfortunately the spears are decorated with monkey or dyed goat hair. :shrug:
Best regards,
Willem
Hi Willem,
Can you post some images of the tying of the hair?
Probably they are from the same area than...
Kind Regards,
Maurice
asomotif
21st October 2012, 11:03 PM
Hmmmm...
I wish I had some daylight available at this hour :)
Here 2 close ups of hair decoration on the spears.
Maurice
22nd October 2012, 11:07 PM
Hmmmm...
I wish I had some daylight available at this hour :)
Here 2 close ups of hair decoration on the spears.
Yes indeed the same way as on the penai! Thanks for the images. I bet they're beauties of spears....
Kind regards,
Maurice
asomotif
22nd October 2012, 11:46 PM
Yes indeed the same way as on the penai! Thanks for the images. I bet they're beauties of spears....
Kind regards,
Maurice
Well.... spears can be sort of boring... but if you line them up they make a nice display ;) :p
Come on forumites, show us some more sumara's !!!
Maurice
23rd October 2012, 08:22 AM
Well.... spears can be sort of boring... but if you line them up they make a nice display ;) :p
Come on forumites, show us some more sumara's !!!
Very nice display Willem.
I still have a Borneo spear for you lying here. I will not able to take it to you by train next month, as it would be a strange sight...
PS. Here an old image of Celebes swords (around 1911).....
asomotif
23rd October 2012, 06:57 PM
PS. Here an old image of Celebes swords (around 1911).....
5 of them with tassels. That is what you hope to find in a garage sale :)
Athanase
3rd February 2021, 10:43 AM
Hello, here is my first Sumara :
Sajen
3rd February 2021, 04:44 PM
Hello, here is my first Sumara :
Hello Séverin,
I think it's a penai! ;) But a very nice one, love the carvings at the scabbard. Very nice sword.
Regards,
Detlef
Athanase
3rd February 2021, 06:20 PM
Hello Séverin,
I think it's a penai! ;) But a very nice one, love the carvings at the scabbard. Very nice sword.
Regards,
Detlef
Hello Detlef,
Thank you for the correction. I have never really understand the difference between Sumara and Penai. Whith the word "penai" I found all the handle variation on internet.
Sumara is only for handle with a big "V" ?
Sajen
3rd February 2021, 07:56 PM
Sumara is only for handle with a big "V" ?
Not always, have for example a look to post #13, the beautiful examples from Michael, the one without scabbard is Sumara. There are different handle forms, look also #18, the statement from Michael.
And you find the answer for the query in your new thread! ;)
Regards,
Detlef
Sajen
12th July 2023, 01:08 PM
Was able to add a Penai to the collection. Someone carved away the big integral guard a long time ago, maybe to get a better grip for a big hand.
It comes with a replacement scabbard (not shown) of low quality but the laminated blade is in very good condition after I've removed the corrosion.
62,5 cm long, blade alone 49 cm, 8,5 mm thick at the spine behind the handle. 608 gram.
Gavin Nugent
12th July 2023, 01:14 PM
A couple laying around home.
Gavin
Sajen
12th July 2023, 01:30 PM
A couple laying around home.
WOW, very nice! Special the upper one.:cool: When you don't have space for them send them to me! ;)
Regards,
Detlef
Sajen
12th July 2023, 01:32 PM
Sumara and Penai side by side.
werecow
22nd January 2025, 02:02 AM
I figured I'd crosslink (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=30443) to the thread about my latest acquisition:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=242771&stc=1&d=1737417637
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=242776&stc=1&d=1737418117
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=242774&stc=1&d=1737417637
More pics on the other thread. :)
JeffS
23rd January 2025, 05:00 AM
My penai contributions. I will update with my sumara when I get around to photographing it.
Athanase
25th January 2025, 01:15 AM
Very nice addition Werecow and JeffS ! :eek:
JeffS
10th February 2025, 03:47 PM
I've been updating my database with a backlog of photos. Here is my sumara, picture didn't come out well. I need to remove rust. 53cm OAL, 39cm blade, 7mm spine. It almost looks as if the integral horn guard seen on others was removed on this one based on roughness compared to rest of handle.
Sajen
10th February 2025, 06:43 PM
I've been updating my database with a backlog of photos. Here is my sumara, picture didn't come out well. I need to remove rust. 53cm OAL, 39cm blade, 7mm spine. It almost looks as if the integral horn guard seen on others was removed on this one based on roughness compared to rest of handle.
Hi Jeff,
A very nice sumara! And yes, I guess that these integral big guards get removed when the hand of a new owner is too small. :confused:
Regards,
Detlef
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