Moro? Parang nabur?
 

ebay #370005194748 An interesting little hanger (?) with a somewhat kampilan-like wooden guard? Anyone seen this before?

Hello Tom,

The blade doesn't look SE Asian to me. Of course, you also see blades traded by western countries as well as the Middle East and India (or locally made ones resembling them) ending up in ethnographic pieces.

I can't ascertain how much skill went into carving that guard but the hilt seems very crude to me. This is far from genuine old work by competent Asian carvers - looks much more like an ad-hoc fabrication to make the piece "complete" for display/selling.

Regards,
Kai

I'm with Kai on this one.....nothing SE Asian.....more junk made by the looks of it (the blade may be a different story under the rust....)

Kai; I've handled the piece now; fairly good eye you have there. The blade is definitely old, wedge- sectioned, and as you can see, thickens and widens toward its base. The guard also appears to be very old, and though simple, more worn than crude. It does not appear to have a socket for the handle a la kampilan. The handle, while seeming to have some age, is newer, and it does display a genuine crudity, being formed entirely by rasping. Good eye on telling fuzzy object from fuzzy photo. The dark spot visible at the back edge of the handle is indeed the tip of the tang emerging, fringed with cloth or string of some kind. This shows the grip was not mounted at the angle originally intended; more forward, which argues both for European/euro colonial and intention of serious use. The assemblage is pretty solid. The fit of blade to guard is quite good, with the shoulders of the blade going up into the guard (in almost exactly the way the handle doesn't :D ). The fit of the handle to guard is less well executed, with a notch having been cut to notch the grip into (as you can see, perhaps), but then the grip doesn't quite fit in it.
Cutlass/dirk; maritime private issue w/ sailor made hilt? Could the ebay title have been accurate :) :) anything's possible, I suppose.
A light and nasty slashing sword, BTW

In defense of the hilt
 

Hi All,
Perhaps I'm wrong but to me the overall shape of the hilt shows a remarkable degree of grace. I think the crudity is due to the fact that this is a hilt blank, not a finished hilt. From what I can see the blade/hilt combo forms a very elegant and ergonomically functional ensemble. I think whoever mounted blade knew exactly what he was doing and probably intended to finish the hilt. I know if it were mine, I would be (against all my instincts as a caretaker of an historical artifact) sorely tempted to do so.
Sincerely,
RobT

Shoot some pics when you can Tom. I'd love to get a better view.
Thanks!
Steve

I'll tell you this about the rasped surface; it is quite comfortable and secure in the hand, and is indeed well-formed as to its overall shape.

I like it, Tom. Pretty cool sword. You may recall I picked up a similar amalgam a few years ago:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=tree

(Steve, did you get a haircut? :eek: )

Andrew, I think he got several hairs cut.... :D