Bolo for commentary

[kai]

Hello Gavin,

One of the guardless sub types from Sumatra

As evidenced by the sewar-like bolster, this is yet another family of blades from the same area. The blades do come in different shapes and also the hilts vary quite a bit!

A personally feel this entire piece of yours is a WWII + period weapon from Murat Sabah...

Please explain (I don't see anything similar in the link you added). BTW, Sabah or Sarawak?

The swords we're discussing here are not from Borneo. Also note that the scabbard seems way too long for the blade.

the same elegant guard style can be seen on some of the rarer Sumatra Silat weapons and also in Vietnam...

Visual references would be good, Gav.

but they are typically attached to the pommel too, although examples can be found with the floating guard.

Yes, both guard variants can be found with this type of blade.

Here's a knife-size version from the same period as the one André showed (pic courtesy of Maurits).

Regards,
Kai