Golok or Pedang (Indonesian)

Rick · 26th November 2005, 11:30 PM

Dominique Buttin has an interesting page regarding the Makara on his site :
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/taman.sari/utilities/naga.htm

Here's a nifty little Sumatran knife with a vegetal (to me they look like opening flowers) form hilt and scabbard.

And a head on shot of my pedang hilt ; the bird form is easier to see from this angle .

Rick · 26th November 2005, 11:42 PM

A bunch of people responded and I see that Dominique's site has been listed too !

Nechesh , the reason I'm a leetle suspicious of this material is that it's uniformly jet black , as is the material on the small knife .

I remain a little skeptical about some of these hilts actually being interpretations of the Makara .

nechesh · 27th November 2005, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick

I remain a little skeptical about some of these hilts actually being interpretations of the Makara .

I agree Rick, i think some of them are more abstract vegetative forms. I see what you mean about that hilt, though it would be tough to know without handling it.

Battara · 27th November 2005, 01:57 AM

I agree that it is difficult to tell if it is a representation of a makara or not, especially since they need to use the vegitable motifs instead of images outright to keep the Islamic principle in the Qur'an against graven images. Same idea applies to the Malasians and Moros. Think of the cockatu bird head made of stylized vegitable (okir) designs. I know that Java and Sumatra are Muslim areas.

Spunjer · 27th November 2005, 07:01 AM

wow! thanks for the lively response, lol. really learning a lot about this piece from reading everyone's posts... also, thanks for the links.
my next question is; is there a way to know the age of this sword whether if it's an older one or a later type?

26th November 2005, 11:30 PM	#1
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	Makara Dominique Buttin has an interesting page regarding the Makara on his site : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/taman.sari/utilities/naga.htm Here's a nifty little Sumatran knife with a vegetal (to me they look like opening flowers) form hilt and scabbard. And a head on shot of my pedang hilt ; the bird form is easier to see from this angle . Attached Images

26th November 2005, 11:42 PM	#2
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	While I Was Taking Pictures A bunch of people responded and I see that Dominique's site has been listed too ! Nechesh , the reason I'm a leetle suspicious of this material is that it's uniformly jet black , as is the material on the small knife . I remain a little skeptical about some of these hilts actually being interpretations of the Makara .

27th November 2005, 01:57 AM	#4
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,345	I agree that it is difficult to tell if it is a representation of a makara or not, especially since they need to use the vegitable motifs instead of images outright to keep the Islamic principle in the Qur'an against graven images. Same idea applies to the Malasians and Moros. Think of the cockatu bird head made of stylized vegitable (okir) designs. I know that Java and Sumatra are Muslim areas.

27th November 2005, 07:01 AM	#5
Spunjer Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Witness Protection Program Posts: 1,730	wow! thanks for the lively response, lol. really learning a lot about this piece from reading everyone's posts... also, thanks for the links. my next question is; is there a way to know the age of this sword whether if it's an older one or a later type?