Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
David,
You are probably right, although there is usually a depiction of a schooner on these blades, which encourages one to think of the ship by that name and assign some nautical significance to the sword. None of this is important, of course, if these are simply locally made Indonesian swords created for a nostalgic Dutch market more than a century after the VOC ceased to exist.
|
I dunno. The inscriptions on these swords attempt to make a fake VOC connection. The first permanent Dutch trading post was established in 1603 in Banten, West Java, Indonesia. Today this area is Batavia, Indonesia.
Java is an island so sailing ships kinda go with the territory. I see nothing particularly incongruent here.
BTW, if you google "Cooler Shaver Batavia Sword" right now you can find at least 6 examples of these swords, all of varying quality, though none of particularly good quality.