Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 25th February 2014, 05:23 PM

Alan, I am so delighted to have your input here, and of course I recognize the cautions you exercise in speculations as professionalism has always been your hallmark. The example you have shared is most interesting, and I wondered the same thing as Kai, whether this blade was produced in Jawa, or indeed a cut down blade from Dutch VOC hanger. The metal, to my untrained eye, had the coarse look of many of the pedang etc. (please pardon my inept description

but then, as far as I have known, if native made why would it have a fuller? Further, why would the maker have placed spurious VOC marks on it? It seems to me that in these regions, there was not the same emphasis on European 'quality' in blades that was so pertinent in so many other native cultures in colonial settings .

Several days ago I began retracing old notes and material on VOC blades and found considerable examples listed, and was surprised at some of the almost nuanced variations in some of the contexts found. It seems that my earlier speculation that perhaps these dated VOC blades were Dutch products specifically intended for export to these colonies was entirely implausible. Apparantly the VOC blades were produced for purchase and use by the forces of the VOC, which were largely foreign and their kit was of course their own responsibility. These were not 'regulation issues' and the types of blades of ranging form and produced over a period far beyond the mid 18th century as I presumed.

It would seem that most of these VOC blades were produced in Solingen for the Dutch, and from what I understand it appears many were of cutlass and hanger type for the shellguard, alternating quillon swords typically used by Dutch sailors from mid 17th century through the 18th. With this being the case, as with most Solingen or contracted instances, this may account for some of the curious variations as applied in various workshops.

For example, in some cases the kamer (chamber) letter is below the VOC device rather than above, as typically seen. In one example of a Dutch hanger the VOC has the Amsterdam (most commonly seen) but the majuscule 'A' has a 'v' type drop down center bar rather than the usual straight. This corresponds of course to other German markings using this style 'A' though usually earlier, the date with VOC is 1742.
There appear to be cutlass/hanger examples dated as early as 1685, but I feel there must be many earlier.

On many examples the date is encapsulated by crosses, 'x's or of course the quad configured dots or lozenges previously mentioned as seen on the 'dump' and 'stuiver' coins issued for the VOC. These kind of four figure patterns are of course often seen on blades produced in Germany used in the same accompanying manner, and may be presumed to represent the cross in my opinion . This same kind of representation may be the purpose of the four petal flower or clover (kleeblatt) found almost invariably on 17th century 'walloon' swords on the quillon disc.

The six kamer (chambers) of the VOC were Amsterdam (seeming primary); Delft; Rotterdam; Enkhuizen; Middelburg and Hoorn.

Other examples with dates on various archipelago weapons in the Dutch colonial complex were pedang VOC 1788 (Hoorn); weapon from Cental Timor VOC 1774 (Amsterdam) blade sharply rebated at tip; pedang 1759 VOC (Hoorn); pedang Seenda VOC 1773, (Amsterdam); another unidentified VOC (Amsterdam) 1685.

It seems that the VOC configuration found later in 18th century on cavalry style arming swords with VOC and 'A' had become almost lozenge shaped with the two aligned contiguously. The date read across the blade horizontally and under the device rather than in line with the blade as commonly known. The date 1787 is seen on an excavated example of one of these as is one surrendered by Dutch to British in South Africa 1795 and mounted in Scottish basket hilt .
Curiously, another Dutch hanger VOC 1794 has the same linear alignment which seems standard on all others so the arming blades seem to have been an anomaly.

I hope that this material taken from the corpus of notes I 'excavated'

will be helpful as we move forward examining the diffusion and sources of these blades .

I would note here that it seems that the date 1768 is one that has been recurring, at least in my recollection. While not yet clear, it seems that there was war between Ceylon and the Dutch in that year but cannot recall which events were in place. I wondered if perhaps those circumstances may have produced a larger volume of swords which became either captured or surplus?

Best regards,
Jim

25th February 2014, 05:23 PM	#37
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,748	Alan, I am so delighted to have your input here, and of course I recognize the cautions you exercise in speculations as professionalism has always been your hallmark. The example you have shared is most interesting, and I wondered the same thing as Kai, whether this blade was produced in Jawa, or indeed a cut down blade from Dutch VOC hanger. The metal, to my untrained eye, had the coarse look of many of the pedang etc. (please pardon my inept description but then, as far as I have known, if native made why would it have a fuller? Further, why would the maker have placed spurious VOC marks on it? It seems to me that in these regions, there was not the same emphasis on European 'quality' in blades that was so pertinent in so many other native cultures in colonial settings . Several days ago I began retracing old notes and material on VOC blades and found considerable examples listed, and was surprised at some of the almost nuanced variations in some of the contexts found. It seems that my earlier speculation that perhaps these dated VOC blades were Dutch products specifically intended for export to these colonies was entirely implausible. Apparantly the VOC blades were produced for purchase and use by the forces of the VOC, which were largely foreign and their kit was of course their own responsibility. These were not 'regulation issues' and the types of blades of ranging form and produced over a period far beyond the mid 18th century as I presumed. It would seem that most of these VOC blades were produced in Solingen for the Dutch, and from what I understand it appears many were of cutlass and hanger type for the shellguard, alternating quillon swords typically used by Dutch sailors from mid 17th century through the 18th. With this being the case, as with most Solingen or contracted instances, this may account for some of the curious variations as applied in various workshops. For example, in some cases the kamer (chamber) letter is below the VOC device rather than above, as typically seen. In one example of a Dutch hanger the VOC has the Amsterdam (most commonly seen) but the majuscule 'A' has a 'v' type drop down center bar rather than the usual straight. This corresponds of course to other German markings using this style 'A' though usually earlier, the date with VOC is 1742. There appear to be cutlass/hanger examples dated as early as 1685, but I feel there must be many earlier. On many examples the date is encapsulated by crosses, 'x's or of course the quad configured dots or lozenges previously mentioned as seen on the 'dump' and 'stuiver' coins issued for the VOC. These kind of four figure patterns are of course often seen on blades produced in Germany used in the same accompanying manner, and may be presumed to represent the cross in my opinion . This same kind of representation may be the purpose of the four petal flower or clover (kleeblatt) found almost invariably on 17th century 'walloon' swords on the quillon disc. The six kamer (chambers) of the VOC were Amsterdam (seeming primary); Delft; Rotterdam; Enkhuizen; Middelburg and Hoorn. Other examples with dates on various archipelago weapons in the Dutch colonial complex were pedang VOC 1788 (Hoorn); weapon from Cental Timor VOC 1774 (Amsterdam) blade sharply rebated at tip; pedang 1759 VOC (Hoorn); pedang Seenda VOC 1773, (Amsterdam); another unidentified VOC (Amsterdam) 1685. It seems that the VOC configuration found later in 18th century on cavalry style arming swords with VOC and 'A' had become almost lozenge shaped with the two aligned contiguously. The date read across the blade horizontally and under the device rather than in line with the blade as commonly known. The date 1787 is seen on an excavated example of one of these as is one surrendered by Dutch to British in South Africa 1795 and mounted in Scottish basket hilt . Curiously, another Dutch hanger VOC 1794 has the same linear alignment which seems standard on all others so the arming blades seem to have been an anomaly. I hope that this material taken from the corpus of notes I 'excavated' will be helpful as we move forward examining the diffusion and sources of these blades . I would note here that it seems that the date 1768 is one that has been recurring, at least in my recollection. While not yet clear, it seems that there was war between Ceylon and the Dutch in that year but cannot recall which events were in place. I wondered if perhaps those circumstances may have produced a larger volume of swords which became either captured or surplus? Best regards, Jim Last edited by Jim McDougall; 25th February 2014 at 09:42 PM.