Please help me to identify this mandau
 

Hi guys. I'm new to this forum, but i've spent several days to read almost all the threads about mandaus and i found it so informative.

I have a mandau that i dont think is a real mandau, since the blade isn't like a proper mandau's blade. At first i think it's an old tourist version, but the hilt and scabbard look quite well made (the carving is so simple tho).

Can you guys please help me to identify this mandau? From which tribe? Is it made for tourist? I will appreciate all your honest comments.

Thank you

Jef

I will admit that the blade does look later than the rest of the piece.

Welcome to the forum, Jef!

This piece looks real to me. Some more pics would be good!

However, as you already noted, the blade looks off: My current guess would be that this was a genuine mandau blade, possibly in fairly poor state of preservation. Someone decided to do a deep, non-traditional wax resist etch which also resulted in a lot of the blade getting lost to erosion.

Regards,
Kai

Thank you for the information, appreciate it. Can you please give me more information about it, based on the carving, etc?



Thank you Kai!

I started to collect Dayak's weapons a few years ago. I have a little collection of mandaus, but just a few are old, mostly are new made (but not the tourist version). I own duhungs, sipet/blow pipe, and lunju/spears. Sadly i found this forum a little too late. It would provide me a lot of information is needed to start collecting as beginner.


Here is the other pictures of this "mandau". I hope you can give me some insight about this mandau's origin and age by seeing these pics.

Thanks in advance

Jef

Not my area... but I like the piece and it does seem to have some age at least to it. Interested in the comments of others who specialise in these.

Though i do have a mandau and used to have another, this also is not really my area. The dress here definitely seems to have age and is authentic, but i don't know what to say about this blade. If it is an old original blade someone certainly did a number on it and destroyed it for all intents and purposes. It does show signs of having been altered after production. I also note that this does not have the familiar concave/convex blade construction that is an important part of mandau blade design. I'm not sure it can actually be called a mandau without that particular construction.

Hey, thanks Colin for your comment. I also wait for others who specialise in dayak's mandau but unfortunately most of them are inactive.


Dear David,
Almost the same thought as mine. I think this mandau is a gift by request in the past. Some of my muslim friends told me, there is arabic text on this blade (since i'm a christian i know nothing about arabic, lol). I'm pretty sure it was not made for headhunting, but maybe just for display (old tourist version) or for talismanic weapon. That's why it's very intriquing for me, since i also own a few old mandaus with proper blades.

Thanks for commenting david, appreciate it.

Hello David,

I believe the whole piece is genuine with only the hornbill feather (and orange slip) being added later.


We need a pic of the right side of the blade to verify. However, the blade seems to me being of concave/convex construction.

I'd be inclined to believe that this blade originally came with the hilt. It just got mutilated in modern times by a heavy acid etch, some additional cuts into the back and tip, and another round of acid to remove signs of manipulation and staining the blade.

Not much that can be done at this point except than replacing the mutilated blade with a well-fitting antique blade; not easy to obtain any mandau blade of suitable style and with correct dimensions though. As long as you manage keeping it in the scabbard, the current blade may do, indeed.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Jef,

It's most likely just gibberish supposed to be looking remotely similar to Arabic scripture.

Unfortunately, this kind of "embellishment" was quite common practise of unscrupulous dealers during the 20th century, especially with low-quality pieces that were expected to not sell well.

I don't think the blade of your example ever deserved such a treatment!

Regards,
Kai

While i agree that more photos would confirm or deny my suspicion, i'm not sure what photo you are looking at that could lead you to believe there is a concave/convex construction here.

Well, the side shown doesn't show any sign of a bevel and the etched surface may still be slightly concave from what I seem to fathom. While this is not final proof, I'm pretty convinced that the other side will exhibit a convex surface with pronounced bevel.

Jef, could you please post a pic of the other side of this blade?

Regards,
Kai