A mandau with brass hilt for sharing and comment

[Sajen]

Hello dear members,

Not long ago I came across this from the auction house as "African knife" described mandau with brass hilt.
The scabbard seems to be a newer replacement, the blade seems to be old, by the handle I am unsure but it seems to have some good age, the pitch ferrule is missing and one of the "knobs" and the rotan binding at the handle is just a fragment.
It's the first mandau I've seen with brass hilt! 74,5 cm inside scabbard, 63,5 cm without, blade 51 cm.
All comments are very welcome! Which Dayak tribe? Age?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Not long ago I came across this from the auction house as "African knife" described mandau with brass hilt.

So much for descriptions of an auction house.

[Ian]

Nice find Sajen. That brass hilt does appear to have some age. Are the Dayak groups prominent workers in brass/bronze? I know that the Murat from further north use brass on their hilts, but not seen much on Dayak swords before. That hilt is a very sophisticated casting and impressive work. It seems to be made in several pieces that were brazed together. Nice brass inlays on the blade too. A piece of distinction for a distinguished person?

[kai]

Hello Detlef,

Congrats, nice find!

I agree that it's not African and that the scabbard looks like a later replacement...

Some of the hilt motifs seem to hint at coastal Malay influence - I'd first check among the ethnic groups of Brunei.

The blade seems of good quality - might be traded from the mountains. How thick is it?

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

Some of the hilt motifs seem to hint at coastal Malay influence - I'd first check among the ethnic groups of Brunei.

Hello Kai,
Thank you! And a good hint that it could originate from coastal Malay/Brunei of Borneo.

Originally Posted by kai

The blade seems of good quality - might be traded from the mountains. How thick is it?

Yes, it's certainly a good blade, it's 8 mm thick behind the handle at the spine.

Regards,
Detlef

[JeffS]

Very interesting looking and a lucky find! What is the clear tip off that the scabbard is later?

[kai]

Hello Ian,

I know that the Murat from further north use brass on their hilts, but not seen much on Dayak swords before. That hilt is a very sophisticated casting and impressive work. It seems to be made in several pieces that were brazed together.

Murut is a colonial catch-all term for several Dayak ethnic groups (their area stretching from Sabah to Brunei with bits of Sarawak and Kalimantan thrown in) that's best to be avoided nowadays. Some other Dayak groups also do lost wax brass/bronze casting.

In this case, I'm leaning towards Malay(-influenced) groups from the greater Brunei area. There was heavy production of sword hilts for dukn (also known as Iban pedang or Dusan gayang) as well as other brass/bronze products (gongs, etc.).

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

Nice find Sajen. That brass hilt does appear to have some age. Are the Dayak groups prominent workers in brass/bronze? I know that the Murat from further north use brass on their hilts, but not seen much on Dayak swords before. That hilt is a very sophisticated casting and impressive work. It seems to be made in several pieces that were brazed together. Nice brass inlays on the blade too. A piece of distinction for a distinguished person?

Hello Ian,

Thank you for your comments! Like Kai explained there was some brass casting on Borneo. I for my part have never before seen a brass hilted mandau.
The other questions I will let to others, I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Dayak/Borneo blades!

Regards,
Detlef