Spear with kris blade

[shayde78]

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a tombak. The auction identified it as a "dance spear" (for what that's worth). While the wooden components seem recent and 'touristy', the blade caught my eye as possibly having some age and being in need of a good home.

The entire piece is 55" (from butt to tip of the blade; not including the scabbard). The blade is just under 10", and suffered the tip breaking off at some point.

Any feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated.

Here are some pictures. The tiles here are 6"x6".

Cheers!

[David]

It does indeed to appear to be a tombak.
I am afraid that we only discuss keris here on the forum. You could bring this to the Ethno forum for further discussion if you like.

[kai]

Originally Posted by shayde78

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a tombak.

Yes. It has a methuk of sorts at the base of the blade which qualifies it as an Indonesian/Javanese spear, i. e. tombak. The blade is waved; not a keris blade though - a move of the thread to the general forum seems on order.

I'm afraid this blade is very crudely forged (despite the small inset near the base) and new rather than being of any respectable age. Total length is short enough to pass airline restrictions, I guess. There is a not so recent tradition to mount valuable tombak blades on short staffs or dagger hilts for easier storage. This is not one of them, sorry.

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

You could bring this to the Ethno forum for further discussion if you like.

David, could you push the thread over to the main forum, please?

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

David, could you push the thread over to the main forum, please?

Oh Kai, always insisting that i do all the work. LOL!
Yes, as you can see, i saw this at 2am in the morning so i wasn't quite thinking straight. Move has been made.

[shayde78]

Originally Posted by kai

Yes. It has a methuk of sorts at the base of the blade which qualifies it as an Indonesian/Javanese spear, i. e. tombak. The blade is waved; not a keris blade though - a move of the thread to the general forum seems on order.

I'm afraid this blade is very crudely forged (despite the small inset near the base) and new rather than being of any respectable age. Total length is short enough to pass airline restrictions, I guess. There is a not so recent tradition to mount valuable tombak blades on short staffs or dagger hilts for easier storage. This is not one of them, sorry.

Regards,
Kai

No worries, Kai. I'm glad to have the information, and this was a rather cheap lesson


Thanks all (and apologies for posting in the wrong section).