[Ian]

Jeff,

I have not seen a scabbard for the Co Jang either, until Gavin's link to the Met item. As the museum notes say, this is a northern Sumatran sword with inlaid gold work done in what is now Malaysia. I would suggest that the scabbard came from Malaysia also, as it does not look like Aceh work to me. In any case, the only way to get that sword into that scabbard would be to have a slot down part of the top of the scabbard that admitted the wide blade towards the tip. I've not seen a slotted scabbard on Aceh swords before. The scabbard shown seems rather bulky and cumbersome for routine carry--perhaps designed for more ceremonial use.

Your original idea that these swords did not have a scabbard, at least within the Aceh culture, may be correct. That doesn't answer your question as to why they did not (usually) have a scabbard. Perhaps the progressive widening of the blade from hilt to tip made it difficult to design a tight fitting (closed) scabbard for them, and for some reason this alternative scabbard design with a slotted entry was unpopular or unavailable in Aceh.