Malaysian Knife

A. G. Maisey · 10th January 2007, 10:04 PM

This knife may have been obtained in Malaysia, however, that handle form is very common in Central Jawa, and I do not know of it from any part of Malaysia.

The blade appears to be a badik blade, from where I am not prepared to guess, as I have seen blades like this in a variety of dress.

The scabbard, for me, has no distinguishing features that would precisely place it in any specific location.

With weaponry from SE Asia in general,once we move away from high quality examples it is very common to find blades, handles and scabbards from all over SE Asia mixed and matched. It is not only collectors and dealers outside the area who do this mixing and matching, but people who live there as well. I have seen many examples of keris and other wesi aji that have genuine, documented provenance as having been collected in one place, but that are comprised of component parts from a number of places.

In respect of the question of age:- how old does it look?

Anybody's guess is as good as mine.

My guess is 1800 to 1940.

In respect of a "proper name".

In my opinion the only thing it can be called is "knife".

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10th January 2007, 10:04 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,044	This knife may have been obtained in Malaysia, however, that handle form is very common in Central Jawa, and I do not know of it from any part of Malaysia. The blade appears to be a badik blade, from where I am not prepared to guess, as I have seen blades like this in a variety of dress. The scabbard, for me, has no distinguishing features that would precisely place it in any specific location. With weaponry from SE Asia in general,once we move away from high quality examples it is very common to find blades, handles and scabbards from all over SE Asia mixed and matched. It is not only collectors and dealers outside the area who do this mixing and matching, but people who live there as well. I have seen many examples of keris and other wesi aji that have genuine, documented provenance as having been collected in one place, but that are comprised of component parts from a number of places. In respect of the question of age:- how old does it look? Anybody's guess is as good as mine. My guess is 1800 to 1940. In respect of a "proper name". In my opinion the only thing it can be called is "knife".