Comments requested

[JeffS]

Hello

I would love to receive any information or suggestions concerning this Sewar. I originally thought it was a Keris, but learned on Bladeforums of my mistake. I recently received this from my mother's husband who's father collected it in Sumatra between 1915 - 1918.



-- Jeff
BTW - This is a great forum. I'm looking forwad to learning about collecting Ethnographic weapons.

[kai]

Originally Posted by Dizos

I would love to receive any information or suggestions concerning this Sewar.

Welcome Jeff,

This seems to be a really nice piece with well-tempered edge (that dark zone extending from the tip along the edge).

Please post close-ups if possible - this would help assessing the materials utilized.

I'm looking forwad to learning about collecting Ethnographic weapons.

Well, you'd probably be better off if you were to sell this right away - this stuff can be pretty addictive...

Regards,
Kai

[Battara]

Kai has a good point about the addiction problem.....uh.....anyway, it looks like the bands on the scabbard and the hilt are silver with the pommel of the sewar and the bottom of the scabbard possibly being of bone, though better closeups would be more helpful and help determine materials better (especially if bone or ivory). The black part of the hilt of course is horn.

[Alam Shah]

A very nice sewar indeed.
Welcome to the forum.
You can search this forum for more info, under "sewar", "sewah", "siwah".

[JeffS]

This seems to be a really nice piece with well-tempered edge (that dark zone extending from the tip along the edge).

What you are seeing there is a shadow from the scanner instead of a temper line. The blade flats are contoured - almost grooved, sort of fuller like. Sorry, not sure what the correct terminology is. Hopefully the larger pics will help you see what I mean. I also included a closeup to show the grain texture in the steel.

The black part of the hilt of course is horn.

Actually it is some type of dark hardwood. I don't recognize the type though.

Thanks again for helping me learn about this. This is very exciting. I'm brand new to the world of ethnographic weapons, though I do have a Kinjal I purchased in Turkey that I will post another time. I'm curious if it is the real deal or not.

[Ferguson]

I think the dark part of the hilt is indeed carabao horn. I zoomed in on your excellent photo of the hilt and the grain looks like old horn. See how at a couple of places you see lighter streaks that are almost very fine cracks? Also, it looks like a small "bug bite" where an insect has been eating the handle, common with horn. Of course, you have it in your hand and can see better than a picture, so it may be wood.

Very nice sewar!

Steve Ferguson