Indonesian sword?

[JeffS]

Does anyone recognize this style of sword? It originally had hair from pommel and foot of scabbard. It has an Indonesian feel to me.

[JeffS]

Any thoughts?

[A. G. Maisey]

Jeff, this sort of stuff is a bit outside my area of interest, but I have seen similar edged weapons to this that were attributed to Sumatera, Aceh.

[Sajen]

I've never seen something similar, sorry!

[A. G. Maisey]

I said "similar" Detlef, I did not say "the same".

I reckon that you & a lot of other people too might have seen swords & daggers & knives that bear design characteristics and geometry that would fit into the parameters that this sword of Jeff's carries. This is clearly not a major item, it looks like rural workmanship, and as we move away from major centers of influence the easy to ID characteristics soften & blend with the ideas of people who only have perhaps vague memories or stumbling descriptions to work on.

When looking at older items from SE Asia we need to remember things like the travellers' tales of attempting to cross Sumatera by motorbike during the not so distant past, like into the 1950's. A lot of what we take for granted now was very different not long ago. Even places like Bali were very, very different in the 1960's & 1970's. I had personal experience of both rural Jawa & South Bali long before the tourist flood. I'm reading a book at the moment that was written by a long-time Australian resident of Bali, a famous landscape architect, where he regards 1985 as the year when old Bali changed, I personally regard 1982 as the last good year for Bali, and in 1982 it was a lot different to what it was in 1966-7.

In the markets in Bali now we can see the current interpretations of designs from the past, put a 2023 work-knife side by side with a 1970 work knife and a cursory glance will cause one to form the opinion that these two knives are from different places, but spend the time to look closely at design geometry & we will find the same salient features.

[Jerseyman]

I'm no expert, but this feels Nias to me. I had a quick flick through Albert's lastest book (Traditionele Wapens van Nias - Zonneveld) and Type 10 on page 160 has some similarities - enough to perhaps merit consideration.