Does Anyone Have Any Idea About This Asian (?) Sword?

Ian · 16th September 2019, 01:10 PM

Wayne is on to something I think with his reference to the clipped blade of the Dutch klewang (a.k.a. Maréchaussée sabel), which has been discussed on these pages previously—see, for example, here. The blade of the sword that Casaubon shows has a tip similar to that of the Dutch klewang, but the blade is not from that sword—the Dutch klewang has a curved blade and the fuller is different.

Many, many Dutch klewang were modified by occupying Japanese forces in Indonesia, and the conversions they made have been lumped under the title of heiho knives and swords. Frequent characteristics of the heiho pieces are removal of the knuckle bow on the original klewang, and shortening of the blade by removing the distal part that included the clipped tip. Resulting blade lengths varied from 20+ inches down to as short as 12 inches. They were used mainly as jungle knives and machetes.

16th September 2019, 01:10 PM	#8
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,363	Wayne is on to something I think with his reference to the clipped blade of the Dutch klewang (a.k.a. Maréchaussée sabel), which has been discussed on these pages previously—see, for example, here. The blade of the sword that Casaubon shows has a tip similar to that of the Dutch klewang, but the blade is not from that sword—the Dutch klewang has a curved blade and the fuller is different. Many, many Dutch klewang were modified by occupying Japanese forces in Indonesia, and the conversions they made have been lumped under the title of heiho knives and swords. Frequent characteristics of the heiho pieces are removal of the knuckle bow on the original klewang, and shortening of the blade by removing the distal part that included the clipped tip. Resulting blade lengths varied from 20+ inches down to as short as 12 inches. They were used mainly as jungle knives and machetes.