Real or tourist mandau?
 

Just won the auction for this for a very low price. The carving on the hilt is very poor but the blade seems well made. It seems like the scabbard has a sheath for a pisau raut but on is not included.

What do you guys think?

My only experience is from photographs, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

The blade does not look like it would be an effective weapon, with the fanciful metalwork where you would expect more functionality; the multicolored (pink, really?) tufts don't carry much visual authority, and the simplistic carving on the hilt is of poorer aesthetic interest than anything I've ever seen in this type of weapon.

I don't mean to make harsh pronouncements, but I'd be hard pressed to consider this more than a trinket, from what I see in the photos. Again, I emphasise that I have no hands-on experience, and this piece may actually have in-hand determinants which would reverse my uninformed opinion.

What is the size of this mandau ?

Looks like a souvernir to me.

Best regards,
Willem

I think, this could be a children mandau.

Five or six years old Dayak boys already had a sharp mandau.

I have a Dayak-Doku from the 1940 and when i saw this at the first time, a small boy cutting an enormous jack fruit with his very sharp mandau, i almost couldn't believe my eyes.


Roland

Although it looks very nice it is probably made for export. Another possibility is that this one is for dance performances but the quality of the blade is very poor.

Souvenir or recent dance mandau. :shrug: Sorry!

Regards,
Detlef

Thanks. The auction didn't list the dimensions, we'll see when it arrives.