3 x Kabeala, Goluk,Alaman ? Do not know
 

Hi there

3 pieces of my collection and I do not know how to decide what they are. For a Kabeala the blade of 2 seem right not the scabbard. For a Alaman there is one blade with a damascus swirl.....but the grip is not right.I do not know , maybe I ´ m completly wrong. so please help me with all the 3. Right now a pic of all together with numbers. In the following I will put some more details for each. Please give me some minutes.

Thanks a lot for your help

Thomas

Number 1
 

Total 60 cm, bladelength 46 cm. The blade starts at 1 cm thickness and 6 mm thickness at half bladelength. This seems a little bit to heavy for a blade of this size for me. I have etched the blade softly with a iron3 acid to bring out the pattern a little bit better. The bright layers are not so bright that I this will be pamor ? Do not know. Interesting how the metall of the scabbard was "braided" and soldered.

Thanks for your help.

Best regards thomas

Number 2
 

Blade length 44 cm , total 59 cm , thickness starts at 7 mm , around 5 mm at half of the length. The scabbard shows a complete metalwork. I think that was a lot of handwork but from my opinion it looks not as a real good craftmanship. But this is just a feeling. The grip looks not well used. The bladeis looking older, but I ´ m not sure if it is just deeply etched to give the look of an old blade. The black core seems to be hard steel with softer outer layers. Thanks for your help.

Best regards Thomas

Number 3
 

Also 44 / 59 cm outer measurements. This blade is the thinnest of them 3 all. It starts at the grip with 4mm and goes down continously. From the feeling this makes the most usable feeling of the 3 pieces. The blade shows lightly a swirl of the pattern near the grip.

Thanks for your help

Best regards thomas

#1
 

Hello Thomas,

Welcome to the forum!


This piece is most probably from Sunda. I have handled some pretty hefty antique blades from that region and all have had a nice balance.

This blade is probably antique; difficult to tell from pics whether the fittings may be also antique (and more of village quality) or somewhat later...

Regards,
Kai

#2
 

Hello Thomas,

This may originate from Sulawesi Selantan (Bone, Gowa, etc.) or expat communities like on Sumbawa.

The silverwork may not be top notch but certainly looks decent enough from the pics; age is tough to ascertain but I'd guess at least vintage to early 20th century. The hilt is certainly not Sumba style - I'd posit this is original to the blade and probably scabbard; looks like hardwood of decent quality, too.

The blade seems to have been stained in Java - too much surface corrosion for Bugis taste and maybe a bit too dark AFAIK. I don't see the high-carbon steel at the back of the blade which would hint at an inserted edge construction - can you verify?

I believe this qualifies as an alamang/alameng, at least in contemporary Bugis parlor - seems to be denoting swords with slender blades in general...

Regards,
Kai

#3
 

Hello Thomas,

I am less confident to place this piece. It seems to have some age with a later scabbard; however, 4 mm is quite thin for an antique blade and the pamor doesn't suggest heavy wear from use and polishing/staining.

From the nice pamor extending uninterrupted across the back of the blade, this seems to have an inserted edge construction.

The hilt seems to represent the foot of a horse which is a very widespread type. This one might have affinities with eastern Sulawesi and Buton but resembling hilts are seen throughout the region till Tanimbar. Thus, I believe we'll need a very close match with good provenance to ascertain the origin of this piece...

Regards,
Kai

To sum it up:
#1 could be referred to as golok
#2 an alameng
#3 need to establish the origin first

None of the 3 is a kabeala, I'm afraid... :o

Regards,
Kai

Thanks Kai for all the information. The pamor of Nr. 3 seems to be forged not as flat layers. It seems to be forged with 90° to the sides of the blade. I do not know the word for that technique in english. In german I would say "hochkant"

And you guys are all making me grazy. I ´m now on page 10 from 238 just on Ethnographic weapons

Best regards Thomas

Salaams Thomas ... I think it means "on the edge"... :shrug: