Indonesia Sword - I think? Did My Spidey Senses Lead Me A Stray?
 

Hi all, I picked this up in a trade. To me it looks Indonesian but I can't seem to find a match. It has a nice pattern to the blade with an inserted hard-edge. Not very comfortable in the hand (but then my hands are big), so perhaps a tourist item. I just don't know. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Greg

Definitely Indonesian and not a tourist item. I will leave more accurate description to others. :)

TRY LOOKING FOR TORAJA , SULEWESI I THINK IT IS CALLED A DUA LANLAN .

HERE IS A PICTURE OF A SELECTION OF THE TYPE FOR COMPARISON, YOU CAN ALSO LOOK IT UP IN TRADITIONAL WEAPONS OF THE INDONESIAN ARCHIPELAGO, BY ALBERT G.VAN ZONNEVELD

Thanks guys. I feel the wood needs some oil, is this ok or should I leave it alone. Will furniture oil (lemon oil) affect the rattan binding?

G

THE LEMON OIL WON'T HURT IT BUT DOES HAVE A SMELL AND MORE CHEMICALS THAN MINERAL OIL SO I WOULD GO WITH A VERY LIGHT COAT AND IF IT NEEDS MORE SEVERAL VERY LIGHT APPLICATIONS SHOULD DO IT. THE MAIN THING IS NOT TO GET TOO MUCH ON IT AS ANY THAT IS NOT ABSORBED WILL ATTRACT DUST AND STUFF. MINERAL OIL WILL HELP PRESERVE WOOD AND FIBER BUT DOES DARKEN THE WOOD AND MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE AGE AND PATINA. SOME COLLECTORS WILL SAY NO TO OIL AND SOME WILL SAY WHY NOT SO IT IS UP TO YOU. RENASANCE WAX IS OFTEN USED ON BLADES BUT CAN BE A PROBLEM ON PARMOR BLADES SO PERHAPS KERIS OIL FOR THE BLADE.

Thanks Vandoo and David, I'll go with a light mineral oil for the organics and do a forum search for keris oil. I'm happy this is not tourist junk :) .

Cheers,

Greg

Hello Greg,

Congrats, that's a genuine, old Dua Lalan with good pamor blade!

I'd refrain from mineral oil and use tung oil or boiled linseed oil instead. The latter class of oils seem to be more natural and will dry/harden within a few days: apply a thin coating and thoroughly wipe off any excess after 15 minutes or so; gently polish after an hour or 2 (repeat polishing or the whole procedure the next days).

Your "lemon oil" is probably just scented oil - could be either based on mineral oil (more likely for current products since it's cheaper) or some drying oil.

Regards,
Kai

Thanks Kai. My budy who I traded with had a huge selection of Kris (25 of them) and several nice dha. I just was confident enough re the kris, there was a nice Moro piece but it was fairly new - the blade being all in one piece. The Dha had nice blades (beautiful condition but damaged scabbards so I passed on them). The trade, with some cash worked out to a nice Scottish dirk, circa 1860, a lovely damascus Bavarian curassier sword a nice fighting weight Bulova axe and my Dua Lalan! It was a great show for me as I hadn't picked up much in the last 6 months.

Cheers,

Greg