Dayak Parang Swords?

[CollectingNewbie]

I usualy buy indo persian arms but these caught my eye and I just couldnt pass them up I just picked these three up off ebay, Ill post better pics once they arrive, can anyone tell me anything about them, or anything about the history behind these head hunter swords.

[CollectingNewbie]

heres the last few pics

[Henk]

I'm afraid you'd better leave these three where they were. They look rather new and are probably made for the tourists. The blades look a bit thin and flat to me not the usual forged mandau blades with a concave convex form like the middle one.

But let's wait what the experts will tell us.

[Rick]

Hi CollectingNewbie,
Since you have picked your forum name; I will take it at face value .

This forum has an invaluable archive of information on almost every ethno weapon; it is all available to you through the search function.

The next time you see an item you're interested in bidding on try doing a search here for further information before you bid. Also I would strongly suggest that most often the nicest pieces come from dealers who will guarantee their item's authenticity.

[CollectingNewbie]

Thanks guys, sadly yes I am a newbie so Im still learning but Im still very young so its alright. The seller of these swords said that they were real authentic peices and not tourist peices, so once they get here if they are not what they were said to be then I will have a problem, so ay information before hand would greatly help, I know the pictures are bad but best guesses from the experts wont be taken lightly. Thanks again

[Rick]

This one might suggest that you do your homework before you buy.

[CollectingNewbie]

hi rick, I think that might just be the case, so inyour opinion do you believe these peices to be newly made tourist peices? I know they arent of high quality like the ones Ive seen posted on here before but could it be possible that they are just for a poorer class of people? As I said I am a newbie so I am more then likely wrong, but thats what I figured was that they were just basic models as the ebayer assured me that they were made, used and owned by the actual tribe

[VANDOO]

THE SWORDS YOU PICTURE ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO BE FROM THE HEADHUNTING DAYS BUT WERE MADE IN BORNEO. FROM WHAT I COULD GATHER WHILE I WAS VISITING BORNEO VARIOUS TRIBES OR AREAS STILL MAKE THE MANDAUS FOR THEIR USE AS WELL AS SOME TO SELL OR TRADE. THESE ARE PICKED UP BY TRADERS EVERY SO OFTEN AND BROUGHT DOWN RIVER TO THE MAIN CITYS WHERE THEY ARE PLACED IN SHOPS TO SELL TO TOURISTS. THE SHOPS OFTEN HAVE EXAMPLES OF THIS TYPE OF WORK RANGEING FROM SOME THEY JUST RECEIVED TO SOME THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE SHOPS FOR SALE FOR 50 YEARS OR MORE. THE QUALITY AND WORKMANSHIP VARIES FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE AS WELL AS WITH AGE AND AREAS WHERE THEY ARE PRODUCED. THE BLADE TELLS THE TALE AS TO WEATHER IT WAS MADE FOR USE OR JUST FOR TOURISTS. IF IT IS SUITABLY HEAVY AND SHARP TO CHOP AND PERFORM WORK THEN IT COULD BE USED IF THE BLADE IS THIN DULL AND FLIMSY IT COULD BE USED FOR CEREMONY BUT IS PROBABLY MADE FOR THE TOURIST MARKET.

UNLESS YOU ARE LOADED WITH CASH YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT BE ABLE TO BUY A GOOD OLD MANDAU ON EBAY THESE DAYS AS THE BIG TIME ETHINOGRAPHIC DEALERS AND COLLECTORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL BE BIDDING AGAINST YOU. I USED TO BE ABLE TO GET THE OCCASIONAL OLD MANDAU THAT WAS MISSING THE SCABBARD AS THE DEALERS AND COLLECTORS DIDN'T WANT THEM BUT THEY NOW BUY THEM ALSO SO MY DAYS OF COLLECTING SWORDS FROM BORNEO ARE OVER.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BUYING A RECENT( 1 TO 50 YEARS )EXAMPLE OF ETHINOGRAPHIC ART IF THE WORKMANSHIP IS GOOD, THE PRICE RIGHT AND YOU LIKE IT. SO DON'T FEEL TOO BAD AS I HAVE SOME EXAMPLES IN MY COLLECTION THAT ARE WORSE THAN THE ONES YOU JUST BOUGHT WHICH I DON'T FEEL TOO BAD ABOUT AS I GOT THEM CHEAP. IT IS EDUCATIONAL TO COMPARE THESE RECENT ITEMS WITH GOOD OLD EXAMPLES TO SEE THE SIMULARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN WORKMANSHIP AND MATERIALS OVER TIME. YOU CAN ALWAYS TRY FOR THE GOOD ITEMS ON EBAY AND OCCASIONALY YOU MAY GET LUCKY AS THE BIG BOYS CAN'T SEE EVERYTHING "I HOPE" BUT KNOWLEGE AND TIME WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE YOU OUT OF THE NEWBIE STAGE BUT EVEN THE OLD TIMERS MAKE MISTAKES ESPECIALLY ON EBAY WHERE ALL YOU HAVE IS A POOR PICTURE AND DESCRIPTION TO GO ON. THESE MORE RECENTLY MADE MANDAU ARE OFTEN ARTIFICAILLY AGED BY SMOKING,RUBBING WITH GRIME AND STAINS AND RUSTING THE BLADES OR PITTING THEM WITH ACID. ONE YOU PICTURE HAS A NEWLY MADE SCABBARD THAT HAS NOT BEEN AGED BUT THAT IS NOT A BAD THING IF THE SWORD IS AN OLD ONE THAT HAS BEEN USED AND NOW HAS A NEW SCABBARD ITS BETTER THAN NO SCABBARD AT ALL. GOOD LUCK

[CollectingNewbie]

thanks vandoo, you actually really put me at ease about these swords. Like you i didnt really sepnd that much on them so I didnt take a big loss and I do like the looks of the swords specialy the first one pictured, as I said also the seller of these said that he got the from the Iban people of Sarawak, he mentioned they had been stored in a longhouse for a time but also stated that they were made/owned/carved and used by them, so as you said I think they might be pracital newer makings. As for the details of that only time will tell, and once they arrive I may end up being more happy with them then I am now. Thanks for your help though

[VANDOO]

A GOOD THING ABOUT YOUR SWORDS IS THEY ALL HAVE AUTHENTIC DAYAK DESIGNS AND ARE CARVED NOT JUST PAINTED ON. SOME HAVE THE DESIGNS PAINTED ON OTHERS HAVE NON DAYAK DESIGNS SUCH AS CHINESE DRAGONS, MERMAIDS, ECT. ALL OF THESE TYPES CAN BE FOUND IN THE MANY SHOPS IN KUCHING. I HAVE ONLY VISITED THE MALAYSIAN PARTS OF BORNEO SO DON'T KNOW WHAT MAY BE COMMING OUT OF THE INDONESIAN PART. DIFFERENT REGIONS DO HAVE DIFFERENT STYLES OF TRADITIONAL AS WELL AS SOUVINEER ARTEFACTS. I DID READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT AREAS ONCE AND THEY SAID THE VERY BEST MANDAU WERE MADE UPRIVER IN ONE AREA. UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T REMEMBER WHERE THAT WAS OR WHERE I FOUND THE ARTICLE. PERHAPS SOME OF THE VERY KNOWLEGABLE COLLECTORS WILL KNOW, MOST OF THE KNOWLEGE OF THIS AREA IS IN THE NETHERLANDS AND WRITTEN IN DUTCH AS THEY HAVE BEEN COLLECTING SERIOUSLY THE LONGEST. SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE ALL THINGS DAYAK YOUR LIFES WORK LEARN TO READ AND SPEAK DUTCH AND GERMAN.

[CollectingNewbie]

Thanks for all your help vandoo, I had a chat with the seller and he assured me that they arent tourist models, the are newer although and i dont have a problem with that as i do like them but they are true authentic swords used by the very people that made them, once again thanks for all the info

[utami]

Hei guys, I would like to add few information on indonesian part just like our dear vando on MALAYSIAN PARTS and other member

I've been hunting down the old tradisional mandau blacksmith for almost a year till now, and i was lucky when one of my assosiate found old blacksmith (71 years olds ) in deep & remote area in kutai about 16 hours on the road from samarinda. I belief he is might be the one of last mandau tradisional blacksmith in this century For making 1 mandau its took him about 2 month to completed from choosing the Ulin Wood, Steel, Forging & tempering, carving, to finishing. Before he start making the mandau, he asking some personal stuff such as birthdate, marital status,etc to me. Almost similiar like empu when they making the keris.

Before we found him, all we found in east, south and west kalimantan ( borneo ) are mandau that made to be sold ( souvenir pieces ). What we found is exactly like information from vando and other member.
Souvenir Pieces





They are some few trick to make mandau look old / ages ( i know this because i try some these trick ) most popular trick is by place the mandau and other artefak in open air for couple of year till the blade rusty and the wood aged. The same kind of trick happen to keris.

As far as I know, the most marketable weaponry for indonesia is keris and mandau / parang. Since couple years ago till today, a lot of greedy people hunting down these weaponry. So the old & antique became more and more difficult to find. And the same time none of the young generation have the skill and interest to make high quality ones. I Belief ( strongly ) in the future the traditional values of these amazing pieces will fade away

To my dear CollectingNewbie, personally i would like to thanks you for fallin in love with amazing mandau You are not alone, the first mandau that i ever have is souvenir ones since that i cann't stop loving mandau.

Just my 2 cent, thanks to other member for their opinion

[utami]

Originally Posted by CollectingNewbie

thats what I figured was that they were just basic models as the ebayer assured me that they were made, used and owned by the actual tribe

IMHO : most dayak that I know personally, never buy these kind of souvenir pieces.

If they need a parang or mandau, they will go to blacksmith and order directly to blacksmith to make a pieces for them. The mandau / parang that used daily by dayak for hunting ussually very simple mandau/parang but very sharp ( razor sharp ).

If they need mandu for the dayaknesse ceremonial purpose, they will asked and ordered the blacksmith with special / specification such as family symbol, type of hilt, etc.

Most of souvenir pieces is made by dayak, in Samarinda, they are a village name pampang. In these village, they are alot of dayaknese made the mandau / parang and sold it to tourist.