VOC BLADES: A comprehensive look

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Maurice,


This and the heavy VOC involvement makes it likely to find quite some of these there; I do seem to remember also examples from the greater Timor region (which may have been diffusing out of Timor proper).



I believe these are quite widespread: I've seen several out of Sumatra and also central Java.



I am not sure what kind of provenance would be needed for an ethnographic combo to prove the point? Even when registered into any European nobility collection during the VOC period, this still could be a local "fake" of a possibly respected quality mark.

I know that real VOC swords are a kind of holy grail of Dutch/international military sword collectors and there certainly are a lot of fakes on the market.

However, ethnographic pieces don't enter those collecting circles AFAIK and among ethnographic collectors the VOC mark may be an interesting addition but it won't influence the usually moderate prices in such a way that convincing fakes would be economically lucrative. These are old and worn blades which doesn't make studying marks really easy. However, these are also not easy to apply fake stamps in recent times. It's not that we're looking at some sh***r c**l repros... Sorry, Jim, couldn't resist!

In most cases, experienced collectors are quite good at differentiating locally crafted blades (usually preferred) from European steel or trade blades. I'd suggest to compile all VOC-marked blades: Any VOC marks on blades apparently made from imported steel (including genuine VOC trade blades) should be carefully analyzed; very valuable would be marks from genuine VOC swords - there must be a few in Dutch musea? If we were to come across VOC marks on obviously locally crafted blades, these would make a good comparision, too! This may be a bit like reverse engineering - let's give it a try though!

Will try to load up some examples in the following days if time permits.

Regards,
Kai

Salaams Kai ... I must say yours is Excellent input ! I was just viewing some data on a sold auction Kastane but no photo ... the write up is interesting...
from Christies LondonQuote"Lot Description A DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY SWORD, dated 1757, with Ceylonese hilt, comprising a curved, single-edged blade stamped on both faces with the mark of the Amsterdam office of the V.O.C. and the year 1757; hilt of a Ceylonese kastane sword, comprising a carved wooden grip with lion's head pommed, metal ferrule decorated with foliage, and a brass knuckleguard (quillon A/F)
84.5cm. long

Lot Notes; In areas formely controlled by the Dutch VOC, many of its sword blades were traded and mounted with indigenous hilts by the native people, and sometimes worn until the 20th Century Lot Description A DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY SWORD, dated 1757, with Ceylonese hilt, comprising a curved, single-edged blade stamped on both faces with the mark of the Amsterdam office of the V.O.C. and the year 1757; hilt of a Ceylonese kastane sword, comprising a carved wooden grip with lion's head pommed, metal ferrule decorated with foliage, and a brass knuckleguard". Unquote.

In the sword above, the VOC mark would have been accompanied by the A mark denoting Amsterdam...and interestingly the write up mentions the traded function of goods in Sri Lanka at that time... They didn't have a useable monetary system but bartered for everything... The only people who had money... were the Chieftains/ Royalty (but not exclusively) who actually hoarded coin...Some traders and especially the Moors did actually use money but the general effect of the mass of the population using bartering and the tendency of hoarding coin by VIP's had the effect of fossilising the money supply..This underpins the Caste system in which no monetary system was needed... craftsmen didn't get wages...and the Territorial Army for example had duty to serve the ruler in times of strife sewn into their agreement to work on the land...and again for which goods could be exchanged ... not money; The main bartering instrument being grain. See http://www.cmb.ac.lk/administration/...lph_Pieris.pdf

It is of further interest that neither the Portuguese nor the English stamped blades (except stamped bayonets by EIC) but the Dutch did stamp sword blades using the capital first letter of the factory or warehouse where the stamp was done ...e.g. Amsterdam, Rotterdam etc...and that ceramics were used as trade items for swapping/bartering for the important spices of the region in particular Cinnamon/spices..particularly by the Dutch.

For interest see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?p=109394

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.