Borneo knife, lading cara arab?
 

Dear members,

a while ago this knife crossed my path. The engravings remind me of parang naburs, and the closest thing I can find with this blade profile is "lading cara arab" (Sunfield traditional Borneo weapons part III, p 230). But that has a different base near the handle, stepped widening whereas this one is getting narrower (index finger fits perfectly overthere). I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Kind regards,
Eric.

This kind of reminds me of the Indonesian version of the jambiya.

The "okir" at the base almost looks Moro to me.

I had to google the term okir but I see what you mean, thanks.

- djambia Bandjar
- lading cara arab=Arab-style knife

Terima kasih

Hello Eric,

That is a nice one.
The hilt shape and the decoration are very unique. I have not seen that before.

Hi Willem,

thanks, me neither. The end of the hilt is also worked by the way, previous pics didn't show that.

Kind regards, Eric.

Going along with what Jose said about the carving son the blade, the carving on the end of the hilt looks more than a little Moro to me.
I believe a number of Moros have ended up in Borneo, right?
Maybe a little influence?

Have fun,
Leif

Nice knife, Eric!

This clearly is from Negara with its major melting pot Banjarmasin: The engravings exhibit strong Malay influence and especially the carved hilt and scabbard are typical for short blades from that area.

BTW, "lading cara arab" is most likely just a description (given by a local to an inquisitive colonial officer) rather than a real name utilized within the culture for the piece shown in Schmeltz/AvZ. If anyone insists that this shall refer to a specific type of knife/dagger, I have to admit that I also fail to see a close relationship between the blade shown in Schmeltz/AvZ and Eric's piece; the scabbard construction is very different and the hilt with hardly more than similar overall shape.

While there evidently was contact via trade (and probably exchanges of gifts between rulers), I fail to see any evidence for Moro influences or even origins for this knife.

Regards,
Kai

I agree Kai. Nothing really to suggest a Moro influence.

Hello Eric,

Under the square decoration on the front there is a hole for a carrying/securing cord ?

Hi Willem, yes that's it, the hole is coming through at part of the front making the decoration look like a bit like butterfly. Probably wear or by accident, at least I wouldn't make it like that intentionally on day 1 (leave more meat on it).

See Braiding rattan rings for a replacement for the ethnographic tape band on the lower part of the scabbard.��

Yes I might do that some time. Braiding is an artform in itself and requires a lot of patience for the bigger ones. Turkish head knot is relatively easy but the wider knots, Spanish ring knot, herringbones...Youtube is full of tutorials but I can't wrap my head around it - pun intended :-)