Mandau with odd hilt

[Royston]

Has anyone seen a hilt like this before ?

It's antler and crudely carved ( Note the face ) What I have not seen before are the "Plugs". They are made of rawhide inserted into drilled holes.
Anyone know their purpose ?
The P.R did not come with it, it's one I had spare.

Blade is 20" long. Hilt 6".
Blade with brass inserts but the whole weapon is crudely finished.

I bought two together, the blades are similar but not the hilts. The other one lacks the "plugs"

All comments welcome/
Regards
Roy

[Henk]

The plugs are rolled goat skin originally with hair. When these plugs were placed in the hilt it had tufts with hair. The hair is gone and all that is left is the skin. A little bit hair is still present. In my opinion this mandau is rather recently made for dancing or for selling. A careful guess is 30 years ago.

[asomotif]

Bumping this old thread that I bumped into.

The handle is very simple, difficult to judge for me.
But as for the blade I think this is an old blade, not 30 years as suggested by Henk.

Best regards,
Willem

[Henk]

Willem, why do you think this blade is an old one? Judging on pictures is hard, but you're expertise on this field is much better than mine.

The copper inlay and probably the cleaning of the blade with the black spots left and the rough finshing of the blade is not that of a fine and well finished mandau with inlay.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Henk

The copper inlay and probably the cleaning of the blade with the black spots left and the rough finshing of the blade is not that of a fine and well finished mandau with inlay.

Hi Henk,

I agree with Willem that the blade could be much older. I think you're comparing it with the more discussed inlaid blades originating from the Mahakam area!
Therefore it looks like this blade is very poorly executed and the inlaid marks are different as used to be done in the upper Mahakam area (which look more appealing).
This blade however is made by dayaks more from the South / South-east part of Borneo, and therefore it looks different. Though I've seen several old pieces (also museumpieces dated) which had similar blades whith these kind of "tourist looking" shaped inlay.

But I can understand your thoughts of this being a newer blade.
The problem is that the new/touristic ones also often have these S shaped inlay (called "mata-djoh") along the spine of the blades. But those blades are worse in quality and normally very thin.
Roy's blade looks like a good heavy blade (as far as I can judge it on the photo), with typical implemented "mata kalong" inlay (shape of the figures near the hilt) for the region as mentioned.

Maurice

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by Henk

The copper inlay and probably the cleaning of the blade with the black spots left and the rough finshing of the blade is not that of a fine and well finished mandau with inlay.

Hello Henk,

I was beaten on this one (again)
Maurice is often faster with replies. and he has handled much more Borneo Weapons than I, pfew... not to mention the fact that he actually seems to read complete books. So his knowledge on tribes and regions is of a level that I will not reach.

But I have been collecting borneo for some time and often have more of a gut feeling, which I than have to translate in words.

-The blade appears to be thick and heavy
- the curls on the back are well made. simple, rough but well proportioned.
- the inlays are well made, modern inlays are often thinner, the stars on modern inlays are often more pointy.
- the blade makes me think of some good negara pieces that I have seen in the past.

Best regards,
Willem

[Henk]

Maurice and Willem,

Thank you both for your replies and explanations. What i learned is that i have to look closer. With your explanations i see now the quality of the blade. Borneo is going to become a field of study to get some more insight in these fascinating weapons.
Years ago i thought Borneo was a bushy island with Dayaks and a mandau was a mandau. Reading the comments of both of you in the past I know now that Borneo is divided in areas with different tribes with all kind of weapons with their own specific appearances.

I thought Willem, Maurice was infected by your fascination of Borneo and the weapons from that part of the Archipello. Can we say that the student reached the level of the master and passed him?

[Maurice]

Henk and Willem,

You're both flattering me!
I must admit I read a lot, but remembering all that I've read is the main problem I have (which probably is happening because of the many reading). Sometimes I can remember I've read something, but am not able finding it quick and easy.

I think Willem, that you're knowledge about tribal art weapons of the Indonesian Archipellago is more extensive as mine. And about Borneo it's more the teamwork to obtain knowledge and results at the end.
It's often like trying to find the pieces of a puzzle (with help from other collectors/researchers) to complete it as best as possible at the end.
Although I read a lot, I must say that very good friendcollectors helped (and still helping) with getting interesting articles and books to read. Also ofcourse with sharing their knowledge and hospitality when I visit them.
One can read a lot, but one needs to find out first which are the important articles/books to read.

And Willem, Henk's right that you collect a long time longer as I and you were one (amongst a few others) who caused my Borneo fever... (as I think of it now, you're amongst them that causes my moneyproblems.. )

Henk, about the student reaches the master thing, I think I've reached a level that I'm happy to rank me amongst some senior Borneo collectors, to improve our mutual goal -> sharing knowledge and be all happy collectors.


Maurice