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Old 21st October 2007, 09:09 AM   #2
VVV
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Sweden
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This parang is supposed to be Iban and the hilt resembles the Niabor.
In Spring last year I was within a couple of weeks offered 2 resembling ones from 2 different dealers.
Both of them regulary visit Borneo to acquire Dayak parang and I wouldn't be surprised if they shared some sources?
Before that I have never seen it and I haven't found anything even slightly resembling in any museum databases or in any of the books and articles written about Borneo.
Yours is the third example and I can conclude comparing them that:

- all of them have much longer scabbards than blade (which is strange).
- all of them have Niabor resembling hilts but the carved hilt motifs are quite different on all three.
- all of them have the snake carved along the scabbard.
- 2 of 3 have the bucket-man motif.
- 2 of 3 have several old coins attached to the scabbard mouth (one of them had 4 and the other had 16!).
- the knife is detachable but of a form that is not typical Dayak?
- the other 2 had more brownish scabbards with just a bit of red showing compared to yours.
- to me the carvings look 20th C and the motifs are not what I have usually seen on parang scabbards.

Michael
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