Different Borneo sword

[Indianajones]

Hello Roy,
indeed an odd mandau have to say too. Though it all looks perfectly good old n authentic, to be said first. The thing that I have personally also not seen before is the soft type of wood of the handle. The piece is a bit a puzzle to me too;

To my experience the handle has the carvingstyle of the Bahau-tribe on the upper Barito river as they always tend to use those thin vines almost 'framing' all the details of the handle and often ending in a scroll. Though they usually also carve long beaks with teeth (almost looking like horsemouths) but non on this.

The blade on the other hand looks like those from the Murut area who often have those crossbars engraved near the handle and those sections of engravings near the blunt edge. Also those Murutblades do not have the concave shape as most other mandaublades do (especially from Baritoriverregion).

At last your piece looks like a very old example -seen from the type of iron used n thickness- and I have seen more of these very old examples being puzzling to the Borneo-ëxperts. Perhaps its because some of the Dayak tribes (as the Iban) are or were migrating folks?!?

Enjoy it; those puzzling pieces are always so entertaining I think.

Wouter

[VVV]

To keep up the level of terminology it would be preferred if we do not call a parang with a flat blade, as well as when it is coming from NW Borneo, a "mandau".
Why make a blade like this more "puzzling" than it already is by giving it an incorrect (or simplified?) label at a specialized ethnographic forum like this?

Not only the Iban (an externally given name which literary means wanderer/nomad in Kayan language) were migrating, also the blades, hilts and the complete swords migrated all over the region.
When studying the old sources they describe how there was a lot of trading and cross-cultural influences going on between the different tribes in Borneo.

Michael

[Indianajones]

Roy, I happen to stumble upon this piece which has the similar features on the blade and indeed this piece I would also ascribe to the Iban of Sarawak, and than to the North of their region(close to the Murut region). See that this blade also lacks the 'concaveness'.
<<I hope these pics are allowed as my intensions are just of comparative use n it is already sold.>>
Still the style of the gripcarving is quite unlike other grips I've seen n had from this particular area. Although it might explain -as the Kelabit plateau is more elevated- the use of pine?-sort of wood; more growing in higher altitude regions.

Best, Wouter

[VVV]

Indiana,

Now it seems to me like you are making this thread even more puzzling and unnecessary confusing than it was before you entered.
I don't see the purpose of bringing this new parang into the discussion?
The new one is an ilang (concave/convex blade) and not any of the flat blade swords from NW Borneo (like Roy's parang).
Also it does not have any protrusions (like Roy's parang), nor does it have a square tip (like Roy's parang).
The main common denominator is that the blade is of Iban origin, and not Murut like you suggested in your first post.
So how does this parang contribute to the original discussion?

Michael

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by Indianajones

Roy, I happen to stumble upon this piece which has the similar features on the blade and indeed this piece I would also ascribe to the Iban of Sarawak, and than to the North of their region(close to the Murut region). See that this blade also lacks the 'concaveness'.

Best way to note concaveness is seeing both sides of the blade.
But this example from Ashoka arts is clearly concave imho.

[asomotif]

Sorry to bring in yet another blade, but this one from my collection has quite some similarities imho.

Adding a better picture of the blade and blade tip / 2nd april.

[VVV]

Yes Willem, from your comparison it shows that the tip is shortened and how it maybe looked before.

Roy, do you have any more "ordinary" Iban parang in your collection that you could place next to this one in a picture so we easier can judge its proportions?

Michael

[Indianajones]

Wel (Michael!) from both Willems example (and the one I attached) we may derive that the -perhaps somewhat blunt- ending of the blade does NOT mean it was originally longer.

Also Willems example has a handle which shows a bit more the Murut sort of grip and carved symbols as I know them. Many of this type have large tufts of human hair attached under the (metal) bands of the scabbard. The engravings on his are also similar but lack the dividing in different sections. This example also confirms that we are in the right area, namely in the most North East Sarawak corner where the Iban meet the Kelabit and Murut.


Anyone has a mandau/parang which has a similar grip? That would really help!

To be clear; not all Murut used/wore a 'pakayun' (long curved parang with forked grip).
Also with the Bahau-tribe I did not mean the tribes living around the Bahau river (near Apokayan if I recall correctly) but a tribe on the Mahakam river neighboured by Modang, Busang and Kenyah.

I believe the points (knowledge n experience) I make are clear enough to bring us closer to the answer, hopefully?!?.

Best,W

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by VVV

Yes Willem, from your comparison it shows that the tip is shortened and how it maybe looked before.

Roy, do you have any more "ordinary" Iban parang in your collection that you could place next to this one in a picture so we easier can judge its proportions?

Michael

Hello Michael,

Probably it is not very clear on my previous pictures. I made some new / better ones.
My blade is missing one curl on the blade tip.
With my limited skills in paint I have tried to recreate this missing curl.

Based on this picture with the recreated curl I still want to suggest that Roy's blade can be original.

Best regards,
Willem