Nice Sundanese Parang/Golok for comments

[Athanase]

Hello,

I recently caught that pretty short parang that I suppose came from northwestern Java. The blade is not very sharp and is entirely covered with floral engravings.
At the base of the blade is the date "1236" = 1820-1821 in the Gregorian calendar.
The handle is made of horn and the light wooden fretted with rattan (?) With the horn fountain entrance.
Overall length: 60cm
The blade measures: 45cm x 3cm x 12mm (at the base, then 5mm on the majority of the length).

I suppose it is a weapon of prestige that was not meant to serve in battle because it is short and not very sharp.

[Rick]

Beautifully carved handle!
It looks like Tjikereoh work although the engraving style seems a bit different.
Wonderful sword.

[kai]

Hello Severin,

Congrats, a really nice gobang!

While it is shorter than many examples, it certainly is still within the range of weapons of the region - maybe a tad short for deer hunting from horse back though. Are you sure that the blade was never sharpened or did the edge got possibly dulled?

The hilt is probably coastal Sundanese and an apparently early type.

BTW, make sure not to miss Maurice's seminal online paper on the gobang!

Regards,
Kai

[Athanase]

I saw a month ago in an antique shop a slightly shorter example with a blade engraved finer but without date.
The scabbard was slightly different. The two extremities were of buffalo horn, and the top of the scabbard was surrounded by a red fabric embroidered with a golden / silver thread, with a passer-by to attach it to a belt.
The handle was also different, she represented a feline (tiger?). It was made of very finely sculpted horn with white glass eyes. The base of the handle was covered with a thick silver plate ornamented with plant motifs.

The problem is that it was expensive for me, especially since it was sold fixed on a bamboo board with West African weapons and the lot was indivisible ...

I took some photos with my phone (low quality) but I have to find the pictures.

[Athanase]

The "tiger"" Gobang :

[Athanase]

more details :

[Sajen]

Hello Athanase,

like Kai said already, a very nice gobang. The handle on yours and the other one you missed show Makara, not a tiger, see here my Cirebon (?) sword with Makara handle: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22844&highlight=makara
Gobangs were discussed here several times, see for example here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16719&highlight=sulawesi & http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21508&highlight=gobang

Regards,
Detlef
PS: you have pm

[Athanase]

The handle on yours and the other one you missed show Makara, not a tiger

Ok,
In my head I understood that the makara was only an animal with a more protruding mouth and trunk with a more demonic or dragon aspect.
Thank you for clarifying this.
Also I hesitated to give the name of gobang because the blade resembled much the Tjikereoh style and I thought (wrongly) that the gobang had only handles of geometric shape as in your last two links.

[CharlesS]

Congrats on a lovely addition to your collection. That is one of the better quality and most attractive gobangs I have seen. Both hilt and blade are outstanding, as is the lovely, patinated, scabbard.