Indonesian pedang for identification

[Sajen]

I've recently purchased an Indonesian pedang which seems to have a great age. It has a black horn handle, sadly with an age crack, blade is of laminated construction. The blade has a concave cross section with a prominent spine. It is not a very fancy sword but I am curious to know from where exact this sword coming.

The sword is 63 cm long overall, blade alone 51,5 cm, spine is 8,5 mm thick behind the handle.

All comments are very welcome!

[Ian]

Blade resembles a Moro bangkung on steroids

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

Blade resembles a Moro bangkung on steroids

Yes, the blade shape resembles a bangkung blade. But the cross section is very different.

Regards,
Detlef

[kai]

Hello Detlef,

Good one! (Let me know... )

I'm fairly sure this one is from Sulawesi. Would be good to see the blade stained - this might help to narrow things down.

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

Good one! (Let me know... )

I'm fairly sure this one is from Sulawesi. Would be good to see the blade stained - this might help to narrow things down.

Hello Kai,

Thank you for comment! Sulawesi was my guess as well but wasn't very sure since never have seen a similar one before. But the cross section with the very prominent spine I only know from very old Sulawesi blades.
An etch would need a good polish before and I still have a lot of blade polish jobs in front....

Will let you know in case......

Regards,
Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

This sort of broad, general weaponry is a bit outside my knowledge base, so what I'm putting up for consideration cannot be taken as any sort of expert opinion, only general knowledge based on experience.

There is a Batak sword like this that has a hollow grind --- ie, concave blade face --- it has a name something like rudos, or rodos or similar. Over the years I've had several, and quality and detail varies a lot.

This style of bifurcated hilt is usually associated with Sumatra, lots of stylistic variations, but in other places, including Sulawesi it is somewhere between rare and non-existent.

[kai]

Hello Detlef,

Thank you for comment! Sulawesi was my guess as well but wasn't very sure since never have seen a similar one before.

You're welcome! While Sumatra is famous for its bifurcated horn hilts, this type is none of those.

There are quite some bifurcated pommel types from Sulawesi, too (cp. Sumara); the more simple ones like this are quite rare though.

But the cross section with the very prominent spine I only know from very old Sulawesi blades.

Certainly antique IMHO. Anything before the 19th c. would need some more data to convince me...

An etch would need a good polish before and I still have a lot of blade polish jobs

I'd hesitate to give this blade a polish; a cleaning and a quick exploratory etch may do and look better than after a full polish.

Will let you know in case......

Thanks!


Regards,
Kai