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Old 28th February 2018, 03:34 PM   #22
Ian
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asomotif
Hello Ian,

I am wondering, from where did you buy this parang ? ...

The blade has decorations on the back. are these brass inlays ?
Thank you for the comments Willem.

To answer your questions. I purchased this online (eBay) in 2005 from a seller in Malaysia. I don't recall the seller's name now, but at the time he was selling quite a few items from Borneo.

The decorations on the back are shallow brass inlays. Some of these are obscured a little by oxidation of the blade, but I think they would clean up a bit. Is there any significance, do you think, in the groupings of these inlays?

Quote:
... I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade


Maybe you can give it a gentle cleaning trying to give more life to the decorations
I'm in the process of moving from the U.S. to Australia so it will be a little while before I can get to cleaning the blade. I will take your suggestion, however, and clean some of the oxidation off and see whether the decorations can be better displayed.

Quote:
... I like this parang, regardless the age.
It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum
I agree that this blade has seen some use and that the sword was carried (despite the recent additions). In particular, the tip of the blade is rounded from use and resharpening. I like it because it has "character." Obviously it has been used a lot within the culture, and its imperfections add to its charm. I am not enthused by the addition of materials from what I now know is an endangered species, and I'm inclined to remove them.

Last edited by Ian; 28th February 2018 at 04:14 PM.
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