Borneo parang naibur--a mix of old and new

[Dajak]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Ian,


I said it is rare that these are complete with scabbard - the lower quality blades often seem to come without them...

Regards,
Kai

This one was in the KIT museum 1916....1956 the blade is different.

[kai]

Hello Ben,

This one was in the KIT museum 1916....1956 the blade is different.

Thanks for this example - the blade and hilt seem to have better quality IMHO.

Regards,
Kai

[Ian]

Thank you Ben and Kai. I appreciate your comments.

The points I'm taking from your input are that this an Iban parang (without a more specific name), perhaps mid-20th C or a little earlier in manufacture, with some recent additions of animal products.

While not questioning your assessment in any way, I was a little surprised by your dating this one closer to mid-20th C than earlier. Based on my experience with pieces from mainland SE Asia and the Philippines, I would have thought this one was closer to 1900 +/-. Of course appearances depend on how the sword was used and stored, and are not necessarily the best indicators of age. As Kai noted, materials and style are important indicators also.

I do have a couple of questions about maintenance of these swords and on how you assess quality of blades. As I mentioned above, the blade on this sword has quite a lot of oxidation from age and use. I'm not sure that I want to polish it back to bright metal unless that is how it would have been kept in its original culture. Would the blade be seen as "better quality" if I polished it?

Also, with regard to quality, this blade is rather plain but, as I mentioned above, it has characteristics of being well made by an experienced craftsman. In assessing quality, is the amount of file work an important consideration for these swords? It seems to me that those decorative elements are nice for show but do not necessarily reflect a better made or more functional blade. In referencing "quality" are you equating this with "prestige?"

Ian.

[asomotif]

Hello Ian,

I am wondering, from where did you buy this parang ?

Regardless of the age guesses we can make, it looks like a blade that has faced long extensive use.
Also the scabbard looks very used. lot of patina.
The original carrying strap has surely been replaced by simple rope because someone was in need to carry this parang.

The blade has decorations on the back. are these brass inlays ?

I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade


Maybe you can give it a gentle cleaning trying to give more life to the decorations

I like this parang, regardless the age.
It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

Best regards,
Willem

[kai]

Hello Willem,

Thanks for chiming in!

Regardless of the age guesses we can make, it looks like a blade that has faced long extensive use.

I'd guess that this piece remained in Borneo for a longer period; as usual, the blade may be older than the fittings, too.

Also the scabbard looks very used. lot of patina.

Not so sure this is really old patina. Losses to the paint and definitely some genuine wear - it does not look antique to me though.

I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade

I don't think the cleaning is needed to convince others: The blade does seem to have some quality (e. g. the fuller) while the craftsmanship in shaping it (e. g. the curls at the base) is less convincing and certainly not "old-style"...

AFAIK, Dayak blades were generally kept in polish. Thus, one could argue that heavily patinated blades are non-traditional and just badly maintained!
Thus, I believe that gentle cleaning could help long-term maintenance as well as allow for a explorative fact-finding mission.

It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

While the jimpul is a rather late development of the Iban culture, I don't think that there is any notable number of early collected examples in musea which haven't been used in the originating culture.

Regards,
Kai

[Ian]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Hello Ian,

I am wondering, from where did you buy this parang ? ...

The blade has decorations on the back. are these brass inlays ?

Thank you for the comments Willem.

To answer your questions. I purchased this online (eBay) in 2005 from a seller in Malaysia. I don't recall the seller's name now, but at the time he was selling quite a few items from Borneo.

The decorations on the back are shallow brass inlays. Some of these are obscured a little by oxidation of the blade, but I think they would clean up a bit. Is there any significance, do you think, in the groupings of these inlays?

... I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade


Maybe you can give it a gentle cleaning trying to give more life to the decorations

I'm in the process of moving from the U.S. to Australia so it will be a little while before I can get to cleaning the blade. I will take your suggestion, however, and clean some of the oxidation off and see whether the decorations can be better displayed.

... I like this parang, regardless the age.
It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

I agree that this blade has seen some use and that the sword was carried (despite the recent additions). In particular, the tip of the blade is rounded from use and resharpening. I like it because it has "character." Obviously it has been used a lot within the culture, and its imperfections add to its charm. I am not enthused by the addition of materials from what I now know is an endangered species, and I'm inclined to remove them.

[Dajak]

The real good mandau are mostly found in good condition because quality
of steel was very good and the most early taken from Borneo, the special mandau s sometimes hidden and taken 1 - 2 a year for an headhunting party...not al the mandau s are used for headhunting......
Some just like an everyday parang.

The best for dating mandau s go to the museums get in the depot and look when they get the weapon coming in and collecting time former owner.
These pics from the volkenkunde museum in Nijmegen wich one don t exist anymore.

Ben

[Maurice]

Ian, how thick is the spine at the base of the blade?

Kind regards,
Maurice

[kai]

Hello Ian,

Would the blade be seen as "better quality" if I polished it?

AFAIK, the traditional taste would be to keep it polished, indeed. However, I don't think it needs to be brightly polished to a mirror shine.

Any polish is not per se a sign of quality. However, signs of quality can often be better gauged if a blade is reasonably clean (as well as not over-polished).

In assessing quality, is the amount of file work an important consideration for these swords? It seems to me that those decorative elements are nice for show but do not necessarily reflect a better made or more functional blade. In referencing "quality" are you equating this with "prestige?"

No, some of the gift blades have all bells & whistles, at least nominally. Good quality blades always show good flow of lines and neat craftsmanship, even if not clad with any fancy features. The high-end blades are also made from superior steel quality, too.

Regards,
Kai