[Green]

I just got this mandau yesterday. The blade is simple and heavily rusted. There are two features that I would like to understand and hope mandau lovers and experts here can help to explain.

1) On the base of the blade was etched the name SAMIDRI PIN. Does anyone here familiar with this name? who is he?. Does this mean that this mandau is specifically commissioned by this gent or could he bought it and etched the name later? is this a normal practise?

2) A figurine was tied to the scabbard? any purpose/significance of this? What is this figurine called? I saw similar figurines of the same size in Serawak museum and the explanation notes say that these are used for fish lures and put in fish traps.

Thanks in advance for comments and explanation.