Ah! A subject close to my heart. I think it is safe to say that this, fine as it is, is either made for the tourist trade or the handle was fashioned by an owner foreign to where the bill can from. The reddish wood of the guard does look like some timber from around PNG, I can post other examples, and not old. The pale wood must be of the same age and looks really quite recent, a couple of decades? The swirl on the quillions does have a slight Oceanic feel and is quite pleasing, I am not so keen on the handle. I think this is a very fine tourist piece. Much quality tourist work, some now antique is worthy of artistic consideration.
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