A rather nice golok

[Flavio]

And now a golok! :) On the blade the writing "TIJ PA TJING 1923". The beast on the handle seems to me a lion but maybe it's only an angry dog :confused: :D Brass rings on the scabbard made of nice veined wood, very hard.

I like goloks even if more than weapons often are only all working days instruments... or souvenir for western people. I hate myself to have let to go another one with an eagle handle made of horn... well I hope to find another in the future :p ;) As usual all comments are welcome

[Henk]

Nice golok. Probably a Tjikeroe golok and more recent than 1923. Still a well executed example.
A golok is a working tool, but in Pencak Silat a true weapon.

[Lew]

;) Nice golok! My vote is lion not dog.


Lew

[Flavio]

Yep, Lew, seems the same :mad: :D :)

[Flavio]

Hello Henk, can you explain why do you think that the golok could be more recent than the date? From what I can see the general aspect seems quite old, but my eyes are not so well educated... :p :o :) Thank you :)

[kronckew]

i've seen a few with similar motif, yours seems better executed than mine, which has a number of repairs to the scabbard and a more rudimentary lion grip. not sure how old this one is, metal bands are steel.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s231/kronckew/golok.jpg

[Henk]

Flavio,

Although hard to judge from pictures I noticed that the hulu and the scabbard mouth are made from rather new wood and differ from the lower part of the scabbard. To be honest I think an older scabbard part was taken an a new mouth was carved for it to fit this golok. Also the blade has an appearance that reminds me to more recent goloks I've seen.
I don't take the writing on a golok blade very serious. To be honest, older goloks don't have writing on the blade. That's a more recent development.

But it is still an atractive golok.

[Flavio]

Thank you Henk for your reply :) About the hulu I'm with you it's a recent replecement for the mouth piece.... well I don't know :o About the writing I have also this golok that shows a writing and it's really a nice one... what do you think? Could this well done and decorated piece be old as the writing says?

Thanks for the help :)

FLavio

[Flavio]

And this is the one that is not more mine :mad: It's a nice one with well made carvings on horn but the blade is not so good and quite similar to the one that I posted here.

All this just for fun and show pieces and learn :) ;)

Thank you Henk :)

[Henk]

Flavio,

I'm not an expert on the field of the golok. The mouth piece matches with the hulu. Same dark color and wood structure. Completely different from the rest of the scabbard. That's what I see on the picture.

The Tjikeroe golok is very well executed and seems to have some age. Still the Tjikeroe writing is done for souvenir purposes for, probably in this case, the Dutch soldiers. Writing name of the place and the date is not common on Indonesian blades.

Take a look at this thread about the Tjikeroe swords. Your golok appears there as well.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=948&highlight=tjikeroe

[Flavio]

Hi Henk,

you know from pics it's too much hard to show details, but the hulu wood is different from the one from the mouth piece of the scabbard that is the same of the handle...

Flavio

[Lew]

I must agree with Henk the goloks with dates seem to to made for the Dutch consumers, I have a few goloks minus the writing and they seem plainer not as fancy.

Lew

[Henk]

Flavio,
That's why I already said that it is hard to judge from a picture. I can only tell what I see on the picture. You have the golok in your hands :) .

Lew,
That's a very nice golok. If I'm not mistaken it is a West-javanese golok.

[Flavio]

Hi Lew! Yes I'm with you and Henk, the ones with date and place were made for sure for Dutches, but if the golok is nice who minds? not me! :) :D Yours is very nice!!

Henk no problem at all, thank you for the input and the help!! :)

Who want to show his goloks? come on boy :) :D

[Maurice]

Who want to show his goloks? Mine still in auction. when the auction is over I'll post a picture.

[Rick]

I'm not sure all of these Tjikeroeh Goloks went into tourist hands . :shrug:

My example shows unmistakable signs of attack and parry .
Someone had to use it, and in a hurry .

[Lew]

I'm not sure all of these Tjikeroeh Goloks went into tourist hands . :shrug:

My example shows unmistakable signs of attack and parry .
Someone had to use it, and in a hurry .


Rick is quite right!

We really need to be careful when we apply the tourist label to older swords and daggers. These goloks are not cheap copies they were more likely sold to the local Dutch living and working or soldieringi in the area and were used as a back up side arm or hunting knife. I'm sure one of these goloks would come in quite handy when walking through a narrow dark street somewhere in these towns.
Btw,Here are two more from my closet ;) top one seems mid 20th century the bottom is early 20th century.
Lew

[Henk]

Rick is quite right!

We really need to be careful when we apply the tourist label to older swords and daggers. These goloks are not cheap copies they were more likely sold to the local Dutch living and working or soldieringi in the area and were used as a back up side arm or hunting knife. I'm sure one of these goloks would come in quite handy when walking through a narrow dark street somewhere in these towns.
Btw,Here are two more from my closet ;) top one seems mid 20th century the bottom is early 20th century.
Lew

I fully agree. I don't apply the tourist label at once to these weapons. I think that these weapons where mainly made for the Dutch who brought these weapons to Holland as a souvenir or should we better say as a gift for friends and relatives. Dating and placing the name of a city on the blade wasn't an Indonesian habbit.
The Dutch working and living there used these weapons certainly as side arm or hunting knife. But I know that the Dutch also used the common local weapons for these activities. I don't think that there was any need for a weapon with a date on the blade.
The Tjikroe dated blades and other well known military souvenir keris where brought to Holland in the fifties by the young soldiers after service or during their leave.
Better see these weapons in historical perspective like the well known KNIL madura souvenir keris, with the wrangka as a lying lion and the ukiran in the shape of a woman or male figure, but with a real old keris blade. In my opinion these weapons certainly should be part of a collection referring to the historical KNIL period. Souvenir? Yes, and souvenirs aren't always cheap worthles stuff. Tourist? No!!

[sjors]

Here's another lionhead golok.
It's in a bad shape but this is how my parents brought it to the Netherlands in 1952. The original (silver?) bands on the scabbard were all gone and some were replaced by copper ones. The mouth of the scabbard is also gone and the (layered) blade has no markings. My father told me how he realy used it in Indonesia as a gardentool.

[Flavio]

A nice gardentool :D :)




My father told me how he realy used it in Indonesia as a gardentool.

[DaveA]

To aid search of the forum and cross reference, I list here the various spellings of the name of the hamlet inscribed on this weapon and some other nearby hamlets:

TIJ PA TJING same as Tjipatjing same as Cipacing (modern name)

Cipacing is located in the Sumedang Regency, about 30-40km east of Bandung.

See also these other hamlets where these Dutch East Indies weapons were created c. early 1900's. There is quite a bit of good info in this forum in particular on the weapons of Tjikeroeh hamlet which likely applies to the others as well:

Tjicatjing
modern name not known

Tjikeroeh is same as Cikeruh (modern name)