Is this a siraui?
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More than 10 years ago I acquired this piece from the late Hank Spierenkamp. He called it a siraui. However, it does not look like examples of siraui illustrated in several reference sources, and I'm wondering if anyone has another name for it and an idea of where it originated.
The sharpened edge is towards the bottom of all the pictures. The hilt is upturned at its end, and the blade is slightly recurved, somewhat like a rencong. The hilt is polished smooth and I looked at it hard under magnification to see if it might be rhino horn--there is a defect at the end of the hilt that suggests it may be made of some type of horn--but I think it is more likely wood. (I'm willing to be persuaded that it may be rhino horn if someone has good reasons to believe that ;)). Your thoughts about where it comes from, what it may be called, and the hilt material are all very welcome. Ian. |
Ian, you may find this thread helpful. It seems to me that there are at least two distinctively different blades that have been identified as siraui, on that may or may not be considered a fighting blade and one that is obviously intended first and foremost as a utility knife.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui |
Thanks David. Yes, I looked through the archives also. Not much here or elsewhere I'm afraid.
Hank was an experienced guy and I think his web site may still be up in memory of his contributions to collecting Indonesian knives and swords. I accepted his description as coming from someone who had many years of experience in the field. Would just like to confirm what he said and learn more about these knives, if anyone can help. Ian. |
Well Ian, from what i understand as a siraui (both forms shown in the link i shared) i would not immediately identify your knife as one. Though the handle orientation seems similar your blade seems to be much slimmer than the siraui i have seen and most siraui seem to curve slightly upward throughout the length while yours seems to curve slightly downward. But who knows, it might just be one more variation on the theme. :shrug:
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Hi Ian,
I am afraid but I think like David that it fit neither the description of the classic Siraui like described nor the other form which get often named as Siraui. Here some more threads about this knives: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui, http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui, http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui, http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui, http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=siraui Best regards, Detlef |
Hi Detlef anf David:
Yes, I agree. It does not look like other examples discussed here or shown elsewhere. Thanks for the comments. Ian. |
Hello Ian,
Nice - that's a weird piece for sure! I believe that it's a really far stretch to call this a siraui. Having seen quite some siraui variants, neither the blade, nor the hilt, nor the scabbard does bear any relationship with typical siraui (nor any possibly related blades). Quote:
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Regards, Kai |
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Hello Kai,
Thanks for your thoughts. I think these are better pics of the defect and the end of the scabbard. The defect appears to be filled with resin. Blade length = 10.5 inches OAL = 15 inches OAL in scabbard = 16 inches Thickness of blade in front of hilt = 5/16 inch Maximum blade width (at hilt) = 3/4 inch Minimum blade width (near mid-point of blade) = 0.5 inch The blade does taper towards the tip but not a great deal until about a half-inch from the tip where it tapers fairly acutely to the point. The sharpened edge starts about 3.5 inches from the hilt. For a blade that is not very wide it is quite sturdy and thick. Probably a good thrusting weapon. Ian. . |
Hi Ian,
the hole in the hilt seems natural to my eyes, I have a Kalasan hilt with a very similar hole at this place. Regards, Detlef |
Forget, what to my feeling look weird is the orientation of the handle. :shrug:
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This is very unlikely to be a natural defect/malformation: The end of the hollow portion of a horn is a fairly acute and rounded "cone" - here we're looking at the endgrain and such a shallow depression does not make any sense unless there was something inlaid. OTOH, the shape does not seem to be perfectly regular and the whole piece is a rather plain ensemble without extant decorative elements... Regards, Kai |
Hello Detlef,
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However, neither blade nor hilt nor scabbard do seem to vibe with any established pattern - another possible oddball... Regards, Kai |
Hello Ian,
Thanks for the additional data! Quote:
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Apparently the 2/3 edge got resharpened quite a lot, too - IMVHO quite excessive if this blade got predominantly utilized as dagger... Maybe a utility knife with more specialized function? Or a really convincing attempt at a sharpened pry-bar at last? ;) :D Regards, Kai |
Kai,
It feels much more natural in the hand if the knife is held with the sharpened edge up and the thumb resting on the end of the blade. Perhaps that is why the edge is not sharpened for the first few inches. A stab to the abdomen and a slice upwards would be a devastating wound and likely to hit major blood vessels. Ian. |
Hello Ian,
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Regards, Kai |
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here you go. Like said, at least by my kalasan handle I feel very confident that the hole is natural. When you look close you see the natural grain around the hole which is in the middle, I think to see the same by Ian's handle. Buffalo horn is hollow in the most of it's length and only at the end massive. I think it's a inadvertent accident from the carver. The hole in the handle from Ian's knive look very similar to my eyes. And the knife isn't fancy at all so I doubt that the hole is extra carved for a jimat. Just my thought which is worth like any other thought since we just don't know if the hole was carved with aim. :shrug: Best regards, Detlef |
Thanks Detlef. Yes, a very similar defect and I agree that there appear to be a couple of concentric rings around my example also.
Ian. |
Hello Detlef,
Thanks, that makes a good comparison! Quote:
However, what throws me with Ian's example is the considerable area of the opening and the relatively shallow depression: Considering the rather limited diameter of the pommel, one would expect the cavity to reach the front of the pommel or at least very close! (There is a slight angle to the grain - it might be possible that the tip of the cavity extends into the gripping area.) Ian, can you ascertain whether the bottom of the hole is only resin/fillings or is there also solid horn? An X-ray would be nice to have... ;) Quote:
BTW, I don't think this really is an accident or missing skill of the carver - most likely these are lesser examples made to a budget while the largest horns or best pieces were reserved for VIPs... Regards, Kai |
Hello Ian,
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I'm less convinced that the opening really follows the growth rings - it does look a bit unregular/polygonal (anyway, waterbuffalo horn is not perfectly round to begin with) and, more importantly, several rings seem to (partly) touch the opening which might point to human intervention/carving. Regards, Kai |
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Sounds like a very likely reason. The kalasan is an average example, eyes from bullen-nails are the only metal adornments but with a good blade. Regards, Detlef |
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A couple more knives that might have some similarity to the topic of this thread. The top one (OAL = 14 inches) has a blade of similar shape with its edge towards the bottom of the page. The second one (OAL = 12.5 inches) has its edge facing upwards. Both have bone handles, the second having most of the humerus bone of a monkey. The second one also has a small copper coin worn smooth for a disk guard and a strip of copper wrapped around the blade adjacent to the hilt.
I don't know where the first one came from--perhaps one of the hill tribes from MSEA. The second one is from Vietnam where it was collected in the early 20th C. These village quality knives have always impressed me with their utility and generally high craftsmanship given the fairly basic tools that went into making them. Ian. . |
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Hi Ian,
the first one is a Nias knife, very nice and rare piece! Here a you can see my one: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=nias Best Regards and a Happy New Year, Detlef |
Thanks Detlef. I like the word “rare”. Best wishes for the New Year. Ian
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Following Detlef's kind identification of my pisau Nias, I came across this one on eBay and acquired it today. It looks like a mini-balato, but has an overall length of only 16 inches. Note the wire loop on the scabbard throat that looks very similar to Detlef's example.
The pics come from the auction site. Ian. |
Beautiful antique example with a much newer scabbard. Love the brass handle. But I wouldn't call it parang, by this length it's a piso/pisau. The wire near the scabbard throat I've seen by it's big brother, the balato as well.
Regards, Detlef |
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Sorry about the "parang" terminology. I was copying that from the old thread that you linked to. I will amend that to pisau Nias. :) Yes, I think the scabbard probably is more recent that the knife. Once I get this one I will clean it up to examine the brass hilt better, and will try to post more pics here. Interestingly, this knife had been online for a while and the price had just been dropped to a third of its original asking amount. I guess someone felt generous over the Holiday Season. Ian |
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good that I haven't noticed the listing! ;) :D |
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This little beauty was sold last night by ebay, sadly I wasn't able to win it! :mad: It could be that this thread raised the bids!? :shrug:
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I have been contacted in the past by people who acknowledged that they bought a sword or knife because it was discussed here, and then offered to sell it to me because they knew I was interested in it! That was before eBay masked the names of unsuccessful bidders. |
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thank you for your sympathy! And very well said! :) Regards, Detlef |
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