Strange sumatran?? dagger
 

Hello,
I recently acquired this dagger in a lot of various indonesian daggers.

For me the general look is similar to that of a Gunong, but the whole construction of the handle and scabbard (typical red wood and buffalo horn) is characteristic of Sumatra. :shrug:
The blade is made of steel and the guard in brass.

Blade length : 16cm

Unfortunatly mice love the buffalo horn.... :mad:

I am uncertain about the origin of the blade, but my general feeling is that this hilt has been salvaged off a Sumatran pedang. Hard to say why this all came together, but it seems like a mix-and-match. :shrug:

Yes David, I also feel that the handle comes from a pedang.
The blade also seems to be a re-use, maybe an old reworked spear point?
The sheath seems to have been specially made for this assembly.

Hi Severin,

I agree with David, the handle is from a pedang which could be also from Lombok instead of from Sumatra. The dagger is a constrcut IMVHO, a native has build up his own dagger from pieces, good possible that the blade is from a tombak but could be a cut down pedang blade as well. :shrug:

Regards,
Detlef

I agree with the statements above. The blade almost looks like it belongs on a Moro punal/gunong.

Hello Séverin,

As already suggested, the hilt seems to be recycled from a pedang. It does look Sumatran rather than Lombok to me. Also the tip of the scabbard hints at a Malay origin

I like the notion that the blade could be a recycled tombak. Please take pics if you ever disassemble the piece. How thick is the blade at the base? It seems quite sturdy, isn't it?

BTW, the flow of lines does not really vibe with Moro punal IMHO. However, the no-nonsense blade is somewhat reminiscent of plain Moro pieces, indeed.


Rats and humans seem to be the more likely culprits - washing the hands after dinner helps to reduce the risks of hungry rodents gnawing away at hilts... ;)

BTW, the "hole" at the scabbard mouth looks weird - any idea what happened there?

Regards,
Kai

Hello everybody. Thank you for your opinions. :)

Kai, it's not a hole but the rest of a hook for the belt (and that was probably a little longer before) .

The maximum thickness of the base blade (juste before brass gard) is 5.3mm and 1.9mm at 1cm from the tip.

Hello Séverin,

You're welcome!


Uuuh, the horrid third dimension... ;) :rolleyes:

That's a quite unusual feature, especially with small daggers!


Less than I expected. Well within the range of Moro punal/gunong - neither the blade nor the scabbard support such an origin though.

Whether this really got adapted from a tombak might only be seen after disassembling the piece and possibly etching the blade; of course, there is no need to do so...

Regards,
Kai

I was thinking the same thing!

Lots of trade in the area between both archipelagos.......