Amanremu
 

Not had one of these before. See A van Z page 23.

Amanremu with hulu baba buya.

Length is 72 cm with a 57 cm blade.

Hilt is carved horn. Ferrule is silver with traces of removed decoration in gold / suassa.

Look at the thickness of the blade near the hilt. Just about 13cm or 1/2 inch.
It is a very heavy blade.

Any comment welcome
Regards
Roy

Hi

To me the Y, horns were covered with silver sheet, it's too simple and too plain for me...
But it's not my field...

Kubur

Hello Roy,

very nice Amanremu you got there! :) So it's a Alas, Gayo or Karo sword. What a shame that the suassa (I think) pieces missing. Like Kubur write, it could be possible that the both horns of the hilt has been once covered with silver/suassa. Not necessary but by a piece with suassa very good possible.

Regards,
Detlef

It's nice to see one of these handles that is not cracked. :)

Hello Kubur,

Yes, most certainly silver sheet with suasa trim.

(Quite susceptible to wear & tear; not all examples seem to originally had this decoration though.)

Regards,
Kai

Hello Rick,

Probably hidden on the underside... ;) :rolleyes:

Actually, I tend to be very suspicious if there is no crack; this seems to be a genuine antique though!

Regards,
Kai

Hello Detlef,

Karo and Pakpak examples seem to be on the shorter side.

The large ones like this are probably Gayo (while well-provenanced examples from Alas remain elusive).

Regards,
Kai

Hello Roy,

Nice acquisition! These long and heavy examples most likely originate from the central/southern Gayo regions; currently I can't exclude an Alas origin while (western) Karo hilts usually show slight differences.

Possibly repairs rather than missing decor? Those 3 ferrule bands are unusual - maybe evidence of later repairs, too.

Regards,
Kai

Thanks for the comments.

I still think that something has been removed from the ferrule.

It is possible that this has been repaired at some time, looking at photos of others on the interwebb does show my hilt to be somewhat unusual.

Quite possible that there was silver on the horns. Not possible to tell now.

I have been collecting S.E Asian since the late 70's and this is first time I have owned one of these. I have quite a few other Sumatran swords so although not rare, they are not common in the UK.
This one is comparatively rare in my opinion.

Regards
Roy

Hi Royston. A very nice item, I've not seen one before. Are the horns purely decorative or do they have a deeper meaning?
Thanks for sharing.
Miguel

Hello Miguel,

The literal translation of the Aceh name (hulu) babah buya is [in reversed order of words] crocodile mouth (hilt).

Regards,
Kai

Hello Roy,

Could you post some close-ups?


I believe, the ridges at the base of the "jaws" are an indication of a former metal cover.


It certainly is one of the rarer swords. While the UK did not had much colonial stakes in the area, there were avid collectors. Thus, I've seen offerings from the UK as well as elsewhere (globally). Obviously, it always depends on where you shop and how much you're willing to pay.

Regards,
Kai

My other Sumatran swords.
Cheers
Roy

PS I will try close ups tomorrow

Great collection of North Sumatra swords! :cool:

close ups
 

Kai, here you are. Not the best photos in the world but I think you will see whay I say there has been some "removal". I am sure there are traces of suassa remaining.
Regards
Roy

A fine collection Roy, congratulations !

Thanks Kai, much appreciated :)

Miguel

Hello Roy,

Thanks for the close-ups!


Yes, it looks like a band of suasa that mostly got rubbed off, indeed.

There also has been some patching of the silver underneath and I was wondering whether also the suasa was patching: Looks more like an additional band though - possibly a quite early upgrade.

Regards,
Kai