TOURIST EDGED WEAPOND AND FAKES
 

RECIENTLY I HAVE BOUGHT A TOURIST NIAS SWORD, BUT I´M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT.
I HAVE A LITTLE PROBLEM , I KNOW HOW IS IT THE REAL SWORDS, BUT SOMETIMES LOOK FOR PICTURES WITH TOURIST ITEMS TO IDENTIFY THEM. IS POSSIBLE THAT YOU COULD PUT THE PICTURES OF ETHNOGRAPHIC EDGED WEAPONS MADE FOR THE TOURIST MARKET ( MANDAUS, BALATOS, KRIS, KAMPILAN..)?
THANKS!!
CARLOS

Interesting idea, Carlos.

Here is a Chinese Han dynasty battle sword. Bought from an established dealer as a fake.

And a Chinese / Tibetan helmet. This helmet is so well done that an expert thought it might be real until he picked it up. If real, it would have been worth about 150 times what I paid.

I will post some more later that I bought early on, thinking they were real.

W :eek: W!

That's a good fake helmet!

BALATO
 

TODAY HAS ARRIVED THE BALATO AND I HAVE UNDERSTAND WHY THE SELLER DON´T ANSWER MY QUESTION ABOUT THE LENGHT...IS ONLY 13 INCH!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

No need to boast :D

13 inch better than 8 inch

Ben

Carlos,

There are several things to consider.

First, Nias is often faked because it is a unique and exotic culture, weapons, jewelry, statues.

Second, good quality, but not truly authentic weapons are mostly going to be mid to late 20th c and will cost in the $1,000+ USD range. Authentic pieces from the headhunting days will be MUCH higher and are very, very rare.

If you want to learn, spend some time on this forum. Use the "search" feature. Get to know some good dealers. Buy some books. Here is a good one on Nias.

http://www.ebay.com.my/viItem?ItemId=290092374953

Check around, you might find it cheaper.

Another fake
 

Philippines dagger? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Well, I don't know about fake, but how about "recently made". Some more recent ones have eagles on them and are made of this type of later leather sheaths like this (earlier ones don't).