Hello Séverin,
Quote:
This is my new Lopah Petawaran. It is more traditional in its form, but the blade seems more recent (there are fine decorations incised on the blade which are eroded therefore difficult to see). The base and the tip of the handle was to be covered with silver but these decorations have unfortunately disappeared. 
It's not a masterpiece but it was in my budget ... 
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Thanks, this is a really nice Karo example!
Blade is genuine and old, certainly well into the 19th century. The remnants of the engraving are traditional and suggest that this blade is a high-end piece (or at least quality is well above average!).
The horn hilt also looks genuine. Are there any marks left of (now missing) metal rings? From the looks of the ensemble, rings of silver (and possibly suasa) might be expected; however, unless there is clear evidence of them missing, I'd not necessarily speak of any missing rings and also would not replace any...
The horn hilt clearly has age. I might consider cleaning the tang and refixing the hilt; there seems to have been some shrinkage of the horn and a rusting tang may continue to crack the horn - thus, some TLC may help this piece to survive with as little further damage as possible.
How well does the scabbard fit the blade? It's of nice quality and of a known style. Was there anything of note written on the tag?
Regards,
Kai