Two old Timorese swords

[Ian]

These two swords came from a second auction at the same place I bought the Paiwan club that I posted yesterday. The auction house believes that they date from c. 1700 CE.

The auction pictures are all I have at present, and they were not of good quality. I managed to extract some better images from the online pictures using Photoshop. Both swords are black. Old oxidation accounts for the blackening of the blades, but the hilt and scabbards were likely exposed to a smoky environment dating back many decades. I can't tell if the swords are consistent with a 1700 date from the online pictures, and there are some obvious condition issues with both of them. However, they were a relatively inexpensive purchase so I decided to take a chance on them.

The first seems to be the better preserved and has a relatively intact scabbard

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The second has more detailed carving and may have been better made, but the scabbard has suffered the stress of time and the blade is more corroded. Also, the hilt of the second may have some metal wrapping, while the first example may have a horn or wooden hilt.

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[Sajen]

Hi Ian,

Another great catch! Congrats! If they are from the 18th century, without provenance, I doubt a little bit but they are old, maybe mid. 19th century but of course they can be older, I would ask the auction house if they can provide any provenance.
As for their origin I would guess Pantar or Wetar, I would need to have a look at my books. K. Sirag described them by "Traditional Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago" as type "b".
The encrusted patination by the sec. one coming from the storage near open fire, my personal guess, to prevent damage from animals, rats, mice and bugs.
I had a discussion about this patination in an old thread with Gavin. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15188&highlight=Timor
Please provide pics when you have received them, I personally would clean the blade directly, the oxidation looks very active!

Regards,
Detlef

[Ian]

Hi Detlef,

I was looking through Albert v. Zonneveld's book on Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago and thought that they most closely resembled swords from Pantar (which he called type b). The condition issues are a little concerning. The corrosion of the blade on the second one looks to have caused some pitting, and the condition of its wooden scabbard might include some dry rot. They need some TLC.

Regards, Ian

[Sajen]

I was looking through Albert v. Zonneveld's book on Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago and thought that they most closely resembled swords from Pantar (which he called type b). The condition issues are a little concerning. The corrosion of the blade on the second one looks to have caused some pitting, and the condition of its wooden scabbard might include some dry rot. They need some TLC.

Hi Ian,

Yes, of course type "b", it was a typing mistake, corrected.

Regards,
Detlef