It's a sundang... ;)
This is certainly not a Beladah Belabang, the correct name for the Negara sword misidentified by Stone as a "Parang Nabur" (the name being based on the Niabor of the Iban). I don't see any similarities to Bornean swords (nor Malay/Indonesian in general either).
There are semblances to what has been referred to as bathead(-pommel) Batangas sword/bolo and which likely comes from the southern Luzon region (Bizol currently being the top contender but AFAIK no sure provenance has been established for any of the 19th century pieces yet).
The piece discussed in this thread has a blade shape which seems to differ from the typical bathead-pommel swords (less curved blade, narrower tip, prominent protrusion at the base) and I'd be weary to positively identify it as such (given that there's also not the typical hilt style). 20th century blades from Bizol as shown by Zel seem to come in a variety of shapes and hilt types and a later date would also make the combination with a rather generic D-guard hilt (possibly Filipino with European influences) more likely.
Regards,
Kai
|