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Old 8th February 2013, 12:36 PM   #1
Moshah
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Default a Sewar cross-dressing as a Badik?

Hi again gentlemen...

Presented here was an unconfirmed, but could be quite an interesting case. Was this piece really a badik, or it is actually a sewar?

I found out that the spine of the blade (4th pix) was rather thick, something quite unusual for a badik, IMHO. I might be wrong, but that is how i feel about it.

Honest opinions are most welcomed. Hope we can learn much more with each other again
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Old 8th February 2013, 03:59 PM   #2
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Clearly sewar!
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Old 8th February 2013, 04:20 PM   #3
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That was my thought as well. Who implied that this might be a Badik to you?
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Old 8th February 2013, 04:28 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David
That was my thought as well. Who implied that this might be a Badik to you?
The dress it comes with...

Still, with this cross-dressing, is this a good, average joe kinda sewar?

Pardon my knowledge, but is there anything clearer than the thick spine, to differentiate a sewar and a badik?
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Old 8th February 2013, 05:19 PM   #5
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Both Badiks and Sewars come in a range of sheath styles. I see nothing in this sheath which would lead me to call this a cross-dressed sewar. The blade and hilt seem to clearly ID this as a sewar.
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Old 8th February 2013, 06:23 PM   #6
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Hello Moshah, could be a Malay sewar IMHO. Will post pictures of my sewar collection and as well from my badik collection that you can see the differents.

Regards,

Detlef
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Old 8th February 2013, 07:04 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Both Badiks and Sewars come in a range of sheath styles. I see nothing in this sheath which would lead me to call this a cross-dressed sewar. The blade and hilt seem to clearly ID this as a sewar.

I was told that the sheath was not original to the blade. And usually for this kind of sheath it was supposed to be for badik. It could be my misunderstanding, and it could also be that the classification of badik over here in W Malaysia would slightly differs from its other neighboring cultures.

Since David has mentioned about the broader range of sheath styles, I think we can already conclude it is a sewar all right. However, this is what I initially thought on how a sewar's sheath would be...
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Old 10th February 2013, 12:17 AM   #8
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Hello Moshah,

Quote:
Pardon my knowledge, but is there anything clearer than the thick spine, to differentiate a sewar and a badik?
IMHO the thick integral bolster is a prominent but not sufficient requirement for something being a sewar/sewaih.

Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.

The fittings (including the hilt) look newly crafted to me and may well be Malay "repair" attempts.

Regards,
Kai
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Old 10th February 2013, 11:27 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.
Agree, I also would repolishing the blade, it will look much better after this.
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Old 10th February 2013, 11:43 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.
Agree, I also would repolishing the blade, it will look much better after this.
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Old 10th February 2013, 01:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.

The fittings (including the hilt) look newly crafted to me and may well be Malay "repair" attempts.

Regards,
Kai
Dear Kai,

Now I think I've got it right already.

Looking at it, definitely the edge was heavily corroded. To commissioned a reworking is a futile effort, I afraid, as the sewar's edge would be taken away too much from its original body, and that would not proportioned with the thick spine.

The hilt, FYI, was a white akar bahar. And I am also in the thinking that it is new and I believe you are right.

But then again I would like to ask, is the polished form (the clean, steel looks) is really a desirable state on any sewar? I've seen numerous examples on the net was in that state...
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