New Acquisition, Mandau, said to be 1800's

JoeCanada42 · 1st March 2023, 06:00 AM

Thanks David,
I take all info with a grain of salt, and ya some of the forging I have seen on FiF is very questionable, to say the least .
as for the marks on my Iban swords blade I feel maybe there was one initial or symbol before the G., the remaining marks I would guess was 4 digits, a date...
some how only the G remains visible, which makes me think the markings may have been applied at different times.

Ian · 1st March 2023, 08:36 AM

Hi Joe,

That's a nice job you did in cleaning the blade. The letter G is clearly visible as well as parts of other letters (?) and numbers (?). One thing to consider is that the G does not seem to align with the numbers, which in turn do not align with themselves. This suggests to me that these were applied some time after the original blade was forged. They would have been added by using a separate die for each letter, with the die being struck into the cold steel. Thus, we may not be looking at a maker's mark but something else.

As for the dahong palay, that's a Filipino sword used by the Tagalog and Ilokano people of Luzon. Dahong palay means rice leaf, and the blade shape resembles a rice leaf. I don't think the "G" on the Filipino sword has any connection to your sword.

Ian.

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1st March 2023, 06:00 AM	#1
JoeCanada42 Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Canada Posts: 259	Thanks David, I take all info with a grain of salt, and ya some of the forging I have seen on FiF is very questionable, to say the least . as for the marks on my Iban swords blade I feel maybe there was one initial or symbol before the G., the remaining marks I would guess was 4 digits, a date... some how only the G remains visible, which makes me think the markings may have been applied at different times.

1st March 2023, 08:36 AM	#2
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,362	Hi Joe, That's a nice job you did in cleaning the blade. The letter G is clearly visible as well as parts of other letters (?) and numbers (?). One thing to consider is that the G does not seem to align with the numbers, which in turn do not align with themselves. This suggests to me that these were applied some time after the original blade was forged. They would have been added by using a separate die for each letter, with the die being struck into the cold steel. Thus, we may not be looking at a maker's mark but something else. As for the dahong palay, that's a Filipino sword used by the Tagalog and Ilokano people of Luzon. Dahong palay means rice leaf, and the blade shape resembles a rice leaf. I don't think the "G" on the Filipino sword has any connection to your sword. Ian.