BORNEO SUMPITAN /LAMINATED/WATERED BLADE
 

I picked up this old sumpitan.
The provenance goes back to 1950's but exact age is difficult to say for me.

The blade is laminated / watered steel.
It is pretty thin material and it has some slight bends.
The rattan binding is still firm and the wooden shaft is still amazingly straight.
Total length is 206 cms incl blade.

Does anybody have examples of similar blades for comparison ?
(May also be Philipines or any other region)

The only other thread with nice pictures that I found is this one.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=sumpitan

I do not think that it is from the Philippines.

Nonoy

No, I am quite sure this one is from Borneo.
But I meant that if anyone has a similar blade from another origin it would be interesting for comparison.

Best regards,
Willem

Willem, am I seeing mixed metals in the blade ?

Willem,

I don't think you will easily find a similar blade. I suppose you already noticed that your blade is a javanese tombak. Quite rare I suppose.

Beautiful Willem, congrats :)

It looks Indonesian, but I don't think it is a tombak .
It looks purpose made .
These certainly would be worthy trade items for the tribes .
I just wonder, is that pamor or just stringy iron with a patina . :confused:

Rick,
I think it is stringy iron with patina. It is really roughly made.

Henk,
The shape does not feel javanese, and has a lot of similarity with some other sumpitan blades that are pictured in this thread. (Scroll down beyond the dart quivers.) http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showt...hlight=sumpitan

Hi Willem,
I am nearly sure that it is not a javanese tombak and it is made for a sumpitan.
Very nice aquisition.
Regards,
Detlef

Always wanted one ..... :)
Lovely .