Rare Borneo Sword - Parang Bedak
 

I was quit lucky before X-mas.
With the help of one of my favorite forumites ;) I was finally able to get a parang bedak.
This is the second, but best, I have seen on the market the last 10 years.

Michael

PS It is about 80% the size of a regular mandau but much heavier.

WHICH TRIBAL GROUPS USE THIS FORM OF CHOPPER AND WHERE IN BORNEO. IS IT MOSTLY A WORK KNIFE OR DOES IT PLAY ANY PART IN TRIBAL CEREMONIES. A NICE FIND WITH INTERESTING CARVED DESIGNS CONGRADULATIONS. :)

Thanks!

It was found in SE Borneo, upstreams from Banjarmasin, and except Schmeltz 1892 not much is written about it.

Michael

Michael, that's a most wonderfull addition to a wonderfull collection!
How did you manage to get this one???

Besides yours, I have never seen others on the market, nor in private collections.
The only few I know off, are very early collected (pre 1850), and are in museumcollections. But this parang bedak is such rare, that also the ones in the Dutch museums can be count on the fingers of one hand!

Ofcourse the "most famous" parang bedaks are the one from Muller in the Leiden museum, and the one in the Bronbeekmuseumcollection.
Also you can see dayak's wearing such bedak on the drawings in Muller's book about his expedition!

I think most of the collectors (even collectors with a Borneo collection), don't realise how rare and old this one is!
Congratulations with this great find.

Kind regards,
Maurice

Very nice Michael. I have never seen one.

Thanks Royston and thanks (again) Maurice.

I forgot the illustration in Salomon Müller.
There was another one, with a more plain scabbard, for sale in Switzerland 6-8 years ago.

Michael

Here the one from Muller, collected in the early 1800's.
Unfortunately never have seen this one in real and took it just from the Leiden database...

And here the one that was donated by Prehn Wiesse to Bronbeek in 1866.
This one I was priviliged to see two seperate times, and also was able to take photographs.

Wow, Maurice,
That is a nice one at Bronbeek.
I don't remember seeing that one in the depot.

+ congrats Michael.

I did not know the name and origin of this parang, and was not aware how rare it was when I saw it the first time.
Now I know, I will just have to wait for a second one to come for sale :D
( I am still young and hope to continue collecting for 20 or 30 years :p )

Best regards,
Willem

Yes Willem it is a very nice one the Bronbeek one.
But to be honest, my preference is going to the flower motif at Michael's scabbardtip instead of the "overdone" carvings on the Bronbeek one.
Yes I know, I know..... I've a weird taste... ;-)

The images above, I took the second time I saw it.
The first time we could have a glance on it also, and amongst a few you were there too. We did make some images than also..
Maybe the attached images will refresh your mind a bit?
You can see our overshoes on one of them we had to carry.. :-)

Just laying there in the depot.
Can you imagine how it would be if they would place all their top weapons on display ?
Rtanks for sharing the pictures !