PARANG NIABOR

[Dajak]

This is an example of an Parang Niabor used by the Sea dayaks.

Ben

[kronckew]

Nice one. bit older than mine too.

[Royston]

Am I correct in thinking that these are very very rare ?
I have been collecting for over 40 years and never seen one let alone owned one.
Regards
Roy

[Dajak]

Am I correct in thinking that these are very very rare ?
I have been collecting for over 40 years and never seen one let alone owned one.
Regards
Roy


Yes correct they very rare I had 3 but this one was the best so I did get it back
this one could be easy from the 1700 s

Ben

[kai]

Hello Wayne,

Nice one. bit older than mine too.
Yes, quite a "bit" older and very nice... ;)

Your's is not a parang niabor though.

Regards,
Kai

[kronckew]

Langgai Tinggang then? :D

[Dajak]

Langgai Tinggang then? :D

Take an look here on this site.

http://old.blades.free.fr/swords/dayak/parang_dayak_intro.htm

Ben

[kronckew]

yup, that's where i got the name from....

[kai]

Hello Wayne,

Langgai Tinggang then? :D
Well, it's a modern piece - it does not have to conform to traditional styles.

Assuming that your blade's cross-section isn't convex/concave, it possibly is supposed to represent a langgai tinggang...

Regards,
Kai

[asomotif]

this one could be easy from the 1700 s

Ben

1700's = based on what ?

[Maurice]

Parang Niabors indeed are rare to find, also because they are very old, and a charactaristic sword in use, when the langgai tinggai and jimpul were even called recent.
Even in museum collections they hardly occur, only from very early collected collections. But also in these museum collections they never show up in large numbers. :-)

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Maurice]

PS, here is a parang Nyabor I have in my Borneo collection...

[asomotif]

Parang Niabors indeed are rare to find, also because they are very old, and a charactaristic sword in use, when the langgai tinggai and jimpul were even called recent.
Even in museum collections they hardly occur, only from very early collected collections. But also in these museum collections they never show up in large numbers. :-)

Kind regards,
Maurice

Hello Maurice,

Nice to see you in the forum
:)

When you write about / "early collected / in museum collections", Which dates / years did you encounter ?

best regards,
Willem

[Maurice]

Hello Maurice,

Nice to see you in the forum
:)

When you write about / "early collected / in museum collections", Which dates / years did you encounter ?

best regards,
Willem

Hello Willem,

yes, I found my "login" details again. :-)

When you do a little research about the Borneo swords in some museums, you will find out that the Nyabor is not frequently found amongst them.

Pitt Rivers however does have three Nyabors in their collectiondatabase (as I know of), of which one of the three is collected from, and described by Shelford, in his article: "A Provisional Classification of the Swords of the Sarawak Tribes" (1901).
The second Nyabor you find in the Pitt Rivers collection was collected by Arthur Frederick Sharp, in 1908. And there is a third, purchased by Pitt Rivers in September 1924.

Bronbeek only has one Niabor in their collection, from the former Nijmegen museum.

IFICAH also has only one Nyabor, from an early German collection.

The British Museum only has one, as far as I know (don't know about the collection/dating etc.), and there is known an old drawing from a Nyabor hilt, British Museum, 1862.

The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam has one in their collection, dated before 1887.

In the article of banks you find a photo of a Nyabor, and also in a drawing of James Greenwood, 1899.

And you will find one here and there in some advanced private Borneo collections. ;)

[Dajak]

Hello Wayne,


Well, it's a modern piece - it does not have to conform to traditional styles.

Assuming that your blade's cross-section isn't convex/concave, it possibly is supposed to represent a langgai tinggang...

Regards,
Kai


Not correct the langgai tinggai Has an very different krowit.

It is an cross we see this a lot with the newer type s


Ben

[kai]

Sure, it's non-traditional as already stipulated. I agree that the krowit is off by a far margin.

Arguably it isn't very sensible trying to tag any name on a mix of styles...

Regards,
Kai