Tombak Lada for comment.
 

Hi

The third out of the arrival of 4 from today. A Tombok lada or tumbok lada. Ivory and the metal looks like silver. The „rosetta-like“ (?) and the triangle pieces are looking a little bit „red“ but not like copper, maybe souassa ?

Best Thomas

I like this type a lot!

Have the discs at the top tested by a jeweler to see if they are suassa.

Beauty
 

A beautiful piece! Congratulations.

Congrats, Thomas - a really nice piece! (Please let me know whenever you decide to part with it... ;) )

Any provenance? The origin is Karo Batak, of course.

The inlay will most likely be suasa, indeed. (Probably with really low gold content.)

Regards,
Kai

Dear Thomas,

lovely piece, especially the glossy patina on the ivory. I'v seen this type in pictures and what I wonder about; is it easy to hold - functionally?

Most handles are not only beautiful but also very ergonomical, they just fit into the hand in a natural way. On this type from the short and thick dimensions it looks somewhat awkward.

Kind regards,
Eric

Hello Eric,

These are high status pieces: The bigger the better! The main design constraint seems to be that the hilt does not get so large that the whole piece tends to fall out of the sash... ;)

There are Karo examples with somewhat smaller hilts that can be held a bit better - I believe these are resulting from lesser funds rather than practical reasons though.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Kai,

thanks, more bling than practicality it is. And indeed all that weight at the top becomes a risk at some point.

Kind regards,
Eric.

Hello Eric,

Aside from signalling status, these pieces seem to have been mainly ceremonial. The higher up in the hierarchy the less likely you are needing a blade in a pinch...

The blades tend to be of high quality though; I can easily imagine them mainly put to real use at cutting areca nuts for betel chewing in a ceremonial setting. I haven't come across any good early sources on usage though.

Regards,
Kai