Amazing ! congrats Gav. Is it wootz?

G'day Lofty,

No wootz but a very fine patterened blade. E.Astvatsaturyan shows a small line drawing of the same pattern in the work on Caucasian arms. The steel quality is amazing, extreme gratitude to he who made this available to me.

Gav

Wow, that's a beauty, maurice! Love the inlay work!
I think what Bill meant was the belief in old Mindanao, not necessarily Islam in general even at that point in time...

My latest purchase - and not at all an inexpensive one. EIC lock, locally converted to percussion; silver inlaid barrel with cannon-form muzzle. Good, solid stock. Weighs a fair bit. Woven, multi-strand, hessian rope sling. Bloody beautiful old girl!

my new treasures
 

hello together
These are the latest achievements of the past week.
regards Chregu

Last acquisition for a while. While biased in my preference towards older Sulu blades, I've found a new respect and admiration for the larger, broader pieces from Mindanao.

I've always wanted a straight Maranao battle piece ever since I saw Ferguson and Bill Marsh's collections of kris a few years ago on another forum. This one's a little more ornate than other ones I have seen, which are usually very spartan in the use of metal fittings and have some sort of rattan wrap or non-laquered jute wrap instead of the black laquered wrap that this one has.

Despite this, it does still seem like a very powerful, no-nonsense Kris.

Got it for what I consider a very reasonable price. Can't wait to handle this in person. If anyone has anything to add, I would be very appreciative. What social standing did the original owner belong to? etc etc.

Nice and complete kris without sheath. Like the patina at the handle. Would guess that it is a good fighter so not from a person of special status.
Do you plan to etch the blade when you have received it?

Regards,

Detlef

I agree nice Maranao piece.

Thank you, gentlemen. I've always wanted a straight kris and having spoken with forum members Spunjer and harimauhk (among others) about it over the past couple of months, I've learned to really appreciate the broader and heavier Maranao and Maguindanao pieces, especially the more spartan "battle pieces", as they have been dubbed colloquially. Very no-nonsense, very beauiful in its austerity.

I most definitely do plan on etching it, Detlef. I do not have much experience in etching and FeCl is hard to come by in Canada (It used to be easier to get apparently, but by 2008 it became more difficult as chemicals are very strictly regulated), so I am currently practicing on modern blades using vinegar, lemon juice and pineapple juice to see which gets me a better result. After I have confidence in my etching abilities I will move onto genuine pieces like this one.

I use vinegar and have had very good results!

Good luck and regards,

Detlef

I would recommend that if you are to do that then heat up the liquid before applying it to the metal.

Can we call the kakatua pommel Maranao style ? :)

Both Maranao and Maguindanao tribes used the kakatua hilts as well.

Good question.

Since I already posted a thread on it, here it is: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15441

COOL
 

AMAZING !! very beautiful weapon ! where did you find it ?

Arrived today.
 

These have just arrived. To be frank, when I bid on them I neither expected nor particularly wanted to get them. It was an experiment to see what would be accepted as a bid from the UK, ...and I won,... and they are here. So what have I got? Coming from China........they are slightly different from the posted vendors photo, one of them has a tang 27 cm 10.5 ins long but otherwise just as described and shown, width from barb to barb 5 cm on one and just under that on the other.

Modern, and an attempt at a replica of bronze Chinese arrowheads, Shang, Zhou, through to Warring States style. Most Chinese heads had relatively short tangs, but long tangs were used too. Also socketed heads, especially in Qin and Han. After that, iron/steel heads rather than bronze.

"Attempt" I say, since these are huge compared to the usual long-tanged Chinese bronze arrowheads. And very fat, too. The long 25cm or so ones are usually thinner, with much smaller blades. So, these look like the maker got the size very wrong. Perhaps these should be about 10-12 cm long?

I don't recognise what particular heads these are meant to be copies of, so can't check what the original size was.

These are usually brass, rather than bronze like the originals. The quality of the modern copies (not just of arrowheads, but spears, axes, swords, ge) varies a lot. Some are quite nice.

I am Not disappointed, as I did not expect them to be genuine, and the price was silly low, with free shipping an' all. In fact I don't see how they made anything on the deal. I am now torn between keeping them as a curiosity, or selling them at the next "Steampunk" fair with an outragous and tongue in cheek "backstory", (while making it clear they are modern).
They served their purpose as a test, I now know I can buy spear and arrow heads internationaly via ebay. Pity is I am put off buying anything from China, even passing up on a WW2 militia spearhead at a decent price, because of the likelyhood it was a more recent fake.
On another note, I just won these off ebay from Japan. Shabby, and so not desirable to the higher end collector, but interesting to me. And will go nicely with the yari.

Hey David, are those leggings or sleeves?

They are a sleeve,Kote, I think for the lower arm, ie back of the hand to the elbow, of a type called Han-gote or possibly Tekoh. (6)
The Edo period was generaly peacefull, with feuds, policing and piracy rather than war, so real combat armour tended to be light raiders stuff. Full armours were made but as ceremonial stuff not functional. I am hopefull these are examples of the lightweight gear. And if not, heh, no matter. Shipping is costing more than the bid, the total about what I pay for second hand Kimono.

The above photo and drawing from this very usefull site http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/index.htm My ambition is to put the above gear, or something like it together using as much genuine stuff as possible.

It would be nice to establish regional/tribal styles if possible . :)

my latest acquisition ... parts for "shamshir" (Khevsurian)
- type: Khmali
- origin: Georgia
- style: Persian
- steel garnitures with copper inlaid
very good state - 19th Century
as far as I understood, relatively rare, to rare :p

all the best

à +

Dom

Very nice pieces Dom. What are you going to do with them, mount them on a sword or display as separate bits.

Dom, just beutiful! It is rare to see a complete matching set of shamshir fittings, especially when they are of a better quality such as yours

Hi David, thanks Stan for your nice comments
very good, and pertinent question :p
several alternatives are ... front to me
- found a beautiful blade (johar) and handle,
without to forget to met some one able to make a good scabbard,
covered with leather, and with a spiral stitching brass ...
otherwise
- to keep it like it is, and to have it, in display
last alternative
- to sale it, will be not a concern to find a collector interested by :p

till yet, nothing decided, there no emergency ;)

à +

Dom

Hi Dom, regarding the scabbard stitching, the thread is passed through short lengths of "gold bullion" which is a spiral wire used in embroidery, it is in fact usualy gold plated over silver. They still use it for uniforms in the UK, mainly for insignia, badges and rank markings. Also used in India for their goldwork on textiles.
If you have difficulty in getting it I have a couple of contacts that might help.

Thanks a lot David
this kind of information is very important, too important to be ignored :D
and I've no touch in that field, actually :shrug:
thank you in advance for information, and for your kind help :p

à +

Dom

My newest: a kukri/khukuri with a carved horn hilt. What is the tool with the loop used for?

it's a button hook. typical tool with some khukuris. rare to find shoes with buttons nowadays, so most people have no clue as to what it is or how to use it. google 'button hook'.

the two most usually found standard tools are a karda - small utility knife - and a chakma(k) which is a hardened unsharpened tool used for burnishing the edge. some come with a multitude of tools: tweezers, awls, fire striker, tinder pouch, etc.

My only guess for the hook tool would have been ear cleaner, but those are usually spoon shaped (at least in East Asia). Looking now, I see that ear cleaners in kukri tool kits have the same kind of spoon shaped tips as East Asian ones.

Both other tools are sharpened. Don't know if they originally were; both have signs of non-original sharpening. Haven't checked hardness yet.

Button Hook
 

No ? :)

Latest aquisitions and an update on an older.
 

Went to a local arms fair on Sunday, varied lots as always, and came away with these.
The curved knife is a puzzler, a sort of mini Kindjal. It is a tourist piece it is much better than the run of the mill item. My guess it has no great age, but made for wear with national costume, for dance or festival, or even for a child. The grip scales are horn, inlaid with dots of a pink material, and the grey rivit heads of base metal. The blade a good bright steel. The scabbard is neatly made, wood core, covered with leather and blackened metal.
Comments welcomed, actually comments invited please, I would like peeps opinion on both of these.
The update is on the kote, I took them into the R.A. where they were seen by Ian Bottomly. They are full kote for an "ashigaru" peasant spearman, cheap munition armour. The long plate at the right is the shoulder plate, small plates and mail on the upper arm, mail over the elbow, and long plates over the fore arm, no handguard as that is a samurai feature. Probably early Edo therefore, and Ian thinks they could even be 16thC.

nice bhutanese dossum on the left. shows signs of it's traditional hairpin laminations.

David,
In my opinion it is a kurdish jambiya. Very nice one.

this just followed me home, can i keep it?
i promise i'll look after it, and feed it and hug it and stroke it.
and empty it's litter box.

David, your kote appear to be ashigaru kote, basic armored sleeves for the ashigaru foot soldier. They would cover the arm from the shoulder to the wrist. Here is a pair to show how yours originally looked.

Hi estcrh I can confirm your ID, they were looked at by Mr Ian B at the RA and he said the same thing. I have given them a steam to relax the hemp backing, and now have to consider whether to go any further with them....they are still shabby but now more identifiable.
Since getting these I have had a few more bits in, and will post them soon. Sorry to be so late with an response, I managed to miss your posting till today.

I did another arms fair over the weekend, and bought two new items. The Keris is posted over in the appropriate forum, a battered example but I am content with it at the price. The other is a small dha which I had seen the previous fair in a western scabbard. This time the dealer had it in the right one, albeit damaged...so I bought it, and filled a gap in my collection. The end of the sheath is damaged and lacking an end cap, so I will have to get one made for it.
The inlay is yellow metal and let in properly in cut cells as opposed to koftgari, in fact to me the blade looks a bit well made for the quality of the hilt and scabbard.

Nice brass inlay. Well done.