Parang, Pedang or what?
 

Down at Birmingham (UK) Militaria Fair yesterday and came back with a new piece. Evidently from South East Asia, Indonesia way, but from exactly where, and what it should be called, I don't know, and so I am posting it here. It is one of the heaviest blades I own, and has a very obviously laminated blade... A bit too obvious, it looks like it has been dumped in acid and then burnished with wire wool, so a bit of advise there would be welcome.

Here some detail pictures of the blade...

Hello David,

First, it's a pedang. Sadly your pictures are a little bit blurry so I can't say much about the handle and scabbard (age) but would guess that it comes from Sumatra (maybe Lombok), blade looks good and antique.
I don't know what you mean with "A bit too obvious, it looks like it has been dumped in acid and then burnished with wire wool", do you speak about the blade or the fittings? When you mean the blade it will be the structure of the pamor blade I guess. :shrug:

Regards,
Detlef

Sorry about the photo's, they were done on my rather old phone, in poor light.
My comments were about the blade, which looks over etched compared to most pamor I have seen, and the surface is slick and burnished to the touch rather than matt.

In Jawa just about all ferric weaponry --- and a whole heap of other things --- is cleaned with acid. In other places the cleaning is done mechanically, more often than not with wet sand. The result of a mechanical clean is a more or less polished surface. Sometimes after the clean with sand or whatever, the blade will be stained, sometimes not.

This blade looks perfectly OK to me.

Thank you, I feel happier for seeing your opinions. It's not an area I am knowledgeable about, and usually avoid buying, but I could not walk past a blade like this one.

One likely more knowledgeable than myself suggested Sumatra as a possible place of origin before I could do so. I acquired a similar article a few months ago, with similar filework on the spine, and a similar hilt, though I myself would've called it a parang. I may well be wrong, though. You could easily have done much worse without even trying.

I have a pamor pedang with an x and 2 lines on the spine aswell the sheath is different though is it a makers mark?

Hi Mickey,

It's a pedang, not a parang. ;)

Regards,
Detlef