Very nice piece Charles! Man, if only these things could talk. I think your theory is a good one and illustrates how someone living in a new country might blend all the cultural influences into one piece. So if it was a Chinese man living in Malaysia at the time very well could have wanted to utilize a familiar hand guard from his own country but to fit into the local community mounted it up with a Sundang hilt and then to show their wealth a bit, sport an exotic wootz blade to boot. I think that is very plausible.
As far as the inscriptions, these trade blades typically have the same inscription. If it follows suit, the inscription beneath the lion would read "Oh fulfiller of needs" and the long inscription panel would roughly translate as 'There is no might nor will save with God, the exalted, the almighty".
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