Hi Kai,
Your explanation got me thinking and I scratched a tiny bit off the back of the sword. Indeed, "bare steel" emerged. Then wonder why Dayaks want to blacken the steel. At least it didn't happen in the Netherlands because I bought this sword at a foreign auction. For the time being I think that it was then glazed and blackened in Borneo itself because the pamor looks much worse than, for example, the blackening of the pamor on Javanese and Balinese krisses. the steel and color on the back looks the same as the front i.e. some areas of the blade are quite rough while most of the blade is polished smooth. I still have a question about the sheath. Is this the "Aso" or maybe "Mata Kalong" or some other stylized creature? Thanks for your explanation.
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