Mandaya Knife Datu Class Restored

[Battara]

Originally Posted by Bob A

May I ask what evidence led you to the conclusion that the scabbard was originally covered in silver plates, and how you arrived at the particular end result?

Certainly. A very good question.

As I mentioned earlier, the scabbard had a piece of silver plate in it and there were nail holes in the correct places of the scabbard wood which would attach silver plates. I even found broken nails in the wood as well as whole metal nails (I was able to take out the whole nails very carefully).

Thus based on this, plus the broken silver band on the tang, I came to the conclusion that this was originally a datu piece with silver mounts. Examples of Mandaya knives have these features.

I studied the motifs of these examples and came up with a simple design, using what I call "pin prick" repousse method that they once used. This includes the piercing work that they also did on these sheets. The nails I made matched the metal of the original nails.

Thank you for your feedback folks.