Since this came up in
another thread and I don't want to hijack it, I thought I'd give this one its own post.
See pictures. 92ish cm overall (if you include the missing tip), with a 79cm blade. 34mm wide at the base. POB is between 12-13cm. It is surprisingly light for its width (does not feel tip heavy at all), and tapers gradually from about 7mm at the hilt to about 2mm at the end of the big fuller.
I've heard on occasion that these were mostly seen as ceremonial status symbols by the Acehnese population, but it definitely seems to be of fighting quality to me.
It's certainly got structure, but I haven't etched it as I have no real experience with that sort of thing and I quite like the way it looks as it is.
I'd be interested in any additional information, thoughts, or your own examples of the type. Does anyone know about how these connect to the Indian basket hilted swords (see picture for comparison; the ethnography museum here in Leiden has gotten them mixed up), or the type of blade featured
on this Sudanese saber?
As an aside: when I bought this early during the pandemic, the guy who sold it to me was worried that it would get lost in the mail chaos back then, so he was nice enough to drive all the way from Amsterdam to my home to hand it to me personally. Sadly he has retired and his webstore has now closed (I was eyeing a mandau there but alas).
Perhaps my nicest blade in terms of geometry, and I really like the grip wiring too. I expect that the pommel cap is a replacement, and of course it's missing the padding, but the rest of it is lovely.