Malay/Indonesian What's it

[Ian]

Don't know what this one may be. Possibly a tool. It has a light, wide, hand-forged blade which is sharpened on the convex end, and may have once been sharpened on the lower edge (as shown in the picture). The handle is hollow horn. The ferrule may be tin plate or aluminum.

Any ideas what this was used for.

OAL = 16 3/4 inches. Blade length = 8 inches.

Ian.


Malay/Indonesian (?)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Igreaves/MalayIndonChopper.jpg

[Robert]

Ian,
My guess (and that is all that it is) would be that it is a tool used either for carving, or it is a utensil made for use in the cleaning and preparation of food.

[Henk]

Ian,

I think this is a sekin from Sumatra. A working tool. I think this one is shortened and that the tip is used for reasembling. These sekin's are longer and smaller at the base. Take a look in the book by Van Zonneveld, Sekin II

[Ian]

Thanks Henk and Rob.

Henk, I had looked in V. Zonneveld and noticed the Sumatran sekin that you mentioned. He describes this tool as a machete. The thickness on the blade of my piece is only a shade more than 1/8 inch at the hilt and tapers quickly to the end, suggesting that it probably was not cut down from a longer blade. Also the maximum width is 4 3/4 inches, which seems quite a bit wider than the sekin shown in v. Zonneleveld's book.

Rob, a food utensil may be the answer. Perhaps some form of domestic knife.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.