Piso Podang Batak or Borneo?

[erikscollectables]

Good to hear from you Michael and thanks for the info! I'll pick up Gardner immediately from my bookshelf!

And just did - never did take notice of these remarks. Also interesting the reference to blades with the cipher of the Dutch company (VOC) in the Raffles museum!

I have a piso podang with a laminated blade with VOC markings. It is clear the blade is very old and not a recent tourist example - I would say 150 years or more but it does sound very unlikely that the VOC would use laminated blades - the original ones have very simple steel blades.

My hypothesis is that European blades had more status and that was a reason for adding stamps that are not original to the blade to improve the status of the weapons.

Maybe something for a different thread....
The problem is there are also recent copies of these which makes the research much more diffuse.

Originally Posted by VVV

Nice find Erik and thanks for the great reference pictures Rasdan.
In Gardner's book Keris and Other Malay Weapons from 1936 you can find out more about the Malay Peninsular Chenangkas.

Michael

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7338
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10183