Parang latok w/stag horn hilt

[kai]

Hello Ian,

When reading Albert van Zonneveld's excellent encyclopedia of Indonesian arms, I ran across a particular statement that the hilt of the parang latok is "always made of wood."

In my edition is written "usually" rather than "always"...

There are quite a few pieces with stag/bone pommels. Many high-end pieces also have exquisitely carved pommels from status wood though.

Overall length = 25 inches
Length of blade (to bend) = 18 inches
Thickness of blade in front of hilt is just under 0.5 inches

Can one of our Borneo experts tell me what I have. Is this indeed a parang latok or something else?

Considering the size and relatively plain decoration, I tend to believe yours comes from the "Land Dayak" who called it buko. There are quite a few peoples dwelling in the area and it will need specialist knowledge to really narrow down the origin of this piece.

Regards,
Kai