Tombak Lada for comment.

[thomas hauschild]

Hi

The third out of the arrival of 4 from today. A Tombok lada or tumbok lada. Ivory and the metal looks like silver. The „rosetta-like“ (?) and the triangle pieces are looking a little bit „red“ but not like copper, maybe souassa ?

Best Thomas

[Battara]

I like this type a lot!

Have the discs at the top tested by a jeweler to see if they are suassa.

[Albert]

A beautiful piece! Congratulations.

[kai]

Congrats, Thomas - a really nice piece! (Please let me know whenever you decide to part with it... ;) )

Any provenance? The origin is Karo Batak, of course.

The inlay will most likely be suasa, indeed. (Probably with really low gold content.)

Regards,
Kai

[Klop]

Dear Thomas,

lovely piece, especially the glossy patina on the ivory. I'v seen this type in pictures and what I wonder about; is it easy to hold - functionally?

Most handles are not only beautiful but also very ergonomical, they just fit into the hand in a natural way. On this type from the short and thick dimensions it looks somewhat awkward.

Kind regards,
Eric

[kai]

Hello Eric,

These are high status pieces: The bigger the better! The main design constraint seems to be that the hilt does not get so large that the whole piece tends to fall out of the sash... ;)

There are Karo examples with somewhat smaller hilts that can be held a bit better - I believe these are resulting from lesser funds rather than practical reasons though.

Regards,
Kai

[Klop]

Hello Kai,

thanks, more bling than practicality it is. And indeed all that weight at the top becomes a risk at some point.

Kind regards,
Eric.

[kai]

Hello Eric,

Aside from signalling status, these pieces seem to have been mainly ceremonial. The higher up in the hierarchy the less likely you are needing a blade in a pinch...

The blades tend to be of high quality though; I can easily imagine them mainly put to real use at cutting areca nuts for betel chewing in a ceremonial setting. I haven't come across any good early sources on usage though.

Regards,
Kai