Mandau for review

[kai]

My guess would be pre-1940.

I got this from Palankaraya, Central Kalimantan. I saw how the swords after WW2 look like and they are more rough than this one. 19 century ones would be more sophisticated.

Our experts tend to be quite conservative in their age estimates...

This one certainly presents some additional challenges.

It is great that Willem broke things down - we probably do have to discuss the parts, indeed.

Scabbard could be a reconditioned one. Blade is, however nicely balanced forward but I expected the sword to be more heavy. I have a parang Sumba and it is also forward balanced, heavier, has more thick steel forward and it looks more rudimentary.

Most kabeala from Sunda don't come with exceptionally heavy blades but there surely are some. I'd guess that you're comparing apples to oranges here, anyway.

A dedicated thread on the kabeala would certainly be interesting...

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Originally Posted by kai

Most kabeala from Sunda don't come with exceptionally heavy blades but there surely are some. I'd guess that you're comparing apples to oranges here, anyway.

Considering the pic of both blades, maybe more like comparing apples and pomme de terre...

The kabeala blade looks well preserved and does not seem to exhibit much distal taper while the Dayak blade tapers and probably lost quite a bit of substance to age.

Regards,
Kai