Aceh pommels with tassels - a hairy issue?

kai · 25th May 2018, 02:34 PM

Hello SEA aficionados!

In a recent thread and another one, Aceh pommels with a tassel of hair attached to the distal cavity of the horn were shown. I'm attaching pics of known examples below for reference - please add any additional examples you may come across!

Due to the large size of Aceh horn hilts, the natural cavity of horn (usually from water buffalo) is often still present when the hilt is fully carved. In hilts with big pommel (hulu tapa guda, hulu cangge gliwang, etc.) this cavity is usually left open. In hilts of the gaping mouth types (hulu tumpang beunteueng, hulu peusangan, hulu rumpung, hulu babah buya) this cavity tends to be small and is often filled with jabung (cutler's resin); sometimes the tang seems to be sticking out, too (the usual tang of these blades doesn't seem to be long though; this might rather be a separate pin - some x-rays would be great to check!).

The Dutch subdued Aceh (or pretty much all of northern Sumatra) quite late and there was immediate scientific work done on the local cultures to foster the Dutch colonial rule. Despite of several detailed accounts on weapons, I know of no early source that even mentions any kind of tassels with these weapons.

There are loads of genuine antique swords from northern Sumatra that got into European musea and private collections during the Aceh war (and subsequent military/police actions) or during the early colonial period. Only a minute fraction of these do exhibit tassels of hair as shown in this thread, a huge majority of the "bald" hilts does not show any signs of later losses/removal/repair; this includes many high-status pieces with gold decoration which will, on average, have received more attention for preservation and study.

In the light of this evidence I don't think tassels of hair are a genuine feature of any culture in northern Sumatra. This is a probabilistic approach though, certainly not written in stone. I'm certainly trying to keep an open mind and ask you to falsify my hypothesis.

We all know that dealers and collectors often restore decorations of hair (as it is fragile and easily lost to clothing moths, dermestid beetles, etc.); I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that some would be dumb enough to also do this to pieces from a culture without any such tradition...

There is still another possibility though: Aceh was one of the important trade ports and political powers throughout the archipelago. A few swords from northern Sumatra have been found in other regions, e. g. a sikin panjang found early in Banjarmasin (Schmeltz, 1890). There is a slight chance that such a sword ended up in a culture with hair tassels and received an ethnographically legit upgrade by the new owner. However, this chance will not be terribly high IMVHO...

Short of a full CSI investigation, maybe the mode of attachment could give some additional hints: It would be great if you were to add close-ups showing the base of any tassels to this thread!

Regards,
Kai

25th May 2018, 02:34 PM	#1
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,254	Aceh pommels with tassels - a hairy issue? Hello SEA aficionados! In a recent thread and another one, Aceh pommels with a tassel of hair attached to the distal cavity of the horn were shown. I'm attaching pics of known examples below for reference - please add any additional examples you may come across! Due to the large size of Aceh horn hilts, the natural cavity of horn (usually from water buffalo) is often still present when the hilt is fully carved. In hilts with big pommel (hulu tapa guda, hulu cangge gliwang, etc.) this cavity is usually left open. In hilts of the gaping mouth types (hulu tumpang beunteueng, hulu peusangan, hulu rumpung, hulu babah buya) this cavity tends to be small and is often filled with jabung (cutler's resin); sometimes the tang seems to be sticking out, too (the usual tang of these blades doesn't seem to be long though; this might rather be a separate pin - some x-rays would be great to check!). The Dutch subdued Aceh (or pretty much all of northern Sumatra) quite late and there was immediate scientific work done on the local cultures to foster the Dutch colonial rule. Despite of several detailed accounts on weapons, I know of no early source that even mentions any kind of tassels with these weapons. There are loads of genuine antique swords from northern Sumatra that got into European musea and private collections during the Aceh war (and subsequent military/police actions) or during the early colonial period. Only a minute fraction of these do exhibit tassels of hair as shown in this thread, a huge majority of the "bald" hilts does not show any signs of later losses/removal/repair; this includes many high-status pieces with gold decoration which will, on average, have received more attention for preservation and study. In the light of this evidence I don't think tassels of hair are a genuine feature of any culture in northern Sumatra. This is a probabilistic approach though, certainly not written in stone. I'm certainly trying to keep an open mind and ask you to falsify my hypothesis. We all know that dealers and collectors often restore decorations of hair (as it is fragile and easily lost to clothing moths, dermestid beetles, etc.); I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that some would be dumb enough to also do this to pieces from a culture without any such tradition... There is still another possibility though: Aceh was one of the important trade ports and political powers throughout the archipelago. A few swords from northern Sumatra have been found in other regions, e. g. a sikin panjang found early in Banjarmasin (Schmeltz, 1890). There is a slight chance that such a sword ended up in a culture with hair tassels and received an ethnographically legit upgrade by the new owner. However, this chance will not be terribly high IMVHO... Short of a full CSI investigation, maybe the mode of attachment could give some additional hints: It would be great if you were to add close-ups showing the base of any tassels to this thread! Regards, Kai