Indonesian ? nice / raw Sword

kai · 9th November 2020, 11:35 PM

Hello Franc,

This certainly is an interesting grab!

The scabbard needs some TLC. It is a really good example of the more sublime esthetics of northern Sumatra and is commonly seen with high status swords, too. (There also is a status scabbard variant with heavy ivory crosspiece which would be a pain to carry on any campaign though.)

The wood is elastic and protects blades well. However, in dry climates it tends to become brittle and to get damaged; pristine examples are few and far between!

The blade will exhibit laminations (of usually lower contrast) upon etching; usually these are very well forged and hardened.

This nicely carved hilt is of the hulu rumpung style with some old wear to the lower part of the pommel; the light streaks at the pommel are weird and probably later additions (the smaller ones at the base are genuine).

The quadruple(?) crown/calyx is really unusual: The design of the tips is rather flat while the typical gold crowns (especially of the puco type with 3 rows) are very 3-dimensional. While the material typically is gold or suasa (reddish low-carat gold alloy), this seems to be brass (or heavily patinated silver alloy?). The engraving of the 3 upper rows seems to be typical and of genuine craftsmanship. The plain row at the base bugs me a bit since it also does not perfectly connect to the steel bolster. Has the base of the horn hilt been thinned a bit to receive the calyx? If so, the calyx may be later addition (albeit most likely during the working life of this blade).

Regards,
Kai

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9th November 2020, 11:35 PM	#3
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Franc, This certainly is an interesting grab! The scabbard needs some TLC. It is a really good example of the more sublime esthetics of northern Sumatra and is commonly seen with high status swords, too. (There also is a status scabbard variant with heavy ivory crosspiece which would be a pain to carry on any campaign though.) The wood is elastic and protects blades well. However, in dry climates it tends to become brittle and to get damaged; pristine examples are few and far between! The blade will exhibit laminations (of usually lower contrast) upon etching; usually these are very well forged and hardened. This nicely carved hilt is of the hulu rumpung style with some old wear to the lower part of the pommel; the light streaks at the pommel are weird and probably later additions (the smaller ones at the base are genuine). The quadruple(?) crown/calyx is really unusual: The design of the tips is rather flat while the typical gold crowns (especially of the puco type with 3 rows) are very 3-dimensional. While the material typically is gold or suasa (reddish low-carat gold alloy), this seems to be brass (or heavily patinated silver alloy?). The engraving of the 3 upper rows seems to be typical and of genuine craftsmanship. The plain row at the base bugs me a bit since it also does not perfectly connect to the steel bolster. Has the base of the horn hilt been thinned a bit to receive the calyx? If so, the calyx may be later addition (albeit most likely during the working life of this blade). Regards, Kai