FINE SWORD, INDONESIA OR MALAYSIAN ?

David · 1st October 2010, 08:55 PM

I don't know if this will help any, but i enlarged the section in question and lightened up the surface area some. I can't really blow this up much larger or it starts to pixelate to much.
It still looks like it could go either way, but i lean towards horn here. However i agree with Maurice that horn is a popular higher end material all over Indonesian and i don't think we can place the point of origin based on this choice alone.

A. G. Maisey · 2nd October 2010, 12:21 AM

The indigenous people of Lombok are the Sasak. They are an Eastern Island people, and prior to their domination by Majapahit in the 14th century their culture resembled more the cultures of the Eastern Islands, rather than the cultures of those islands on the western side of the Lombok Strait.

Around 1600 most of the Sasaks had converted to Islam, after coming under the influence of migrants from Jawa and South Sulawesi. In the early 17th century the Balinese from Karangasem invaded Western Lombok and took control of the country, prior to this Lombok had been split up into petty principalities which were constantly fighting between themselves. The Balinese invasion and dominance put an end to this in Western Lombok. About the same time, the Makassarese settlers from the colonies on Sumbawa invaded Eastern Lombok and established their dominance there. By about the middle of the 18th century Bali had managed to gain control over all of Lombok, however, by the end of the 19th century the Dutch had replaced the Balinese as the dominant power.

So, if we look at the cultural influences upon Lombok society we find:- the indigenous Sasak culture, Javanese Islamic culture, Balinese culture, and South Sulawesi culture. The cultural influences to be found in Lombok are the influences that have formed Lombok society and the artifacts to be found within that society.

Now let's have a look at this sword under discussion here.

It has a forward weighted blade intended for slashing, that blade is made by a forge technique that has resulted in what appears from the photos to a construction similar to that found in the blade of a keris, that is, patterned sides on a core, the ricasso has been thickened , squared and notched.

The hilt has a horn pommel with some rather uncomplicated foliate carving, the body of the hilt is metal embossed with a foliate motif and applied twisted wire work, the base of the hilt has a semi guard with rounded edges.

The scabbard has parallel sides made necessary by the widening of the forward weighted blade.

The swords of the Eastern Islands tend to lack the refinement shown in this sword,and the hilt form does not occur in the Eastern Islands, thus native Sasak origin can be discounted.

Swords with broad similarities can be found in Javanese weaponry, but the specific hilt form cannot be found in Javanese weaponry.

This type of sword does not exist within Balinese weaponry.

Neither the hilt form, nor the blade style is found in South Sulawesi, however a similar hilt base can be identified in some South Sulawesi swords.

Djelengga provides illustrations of a sword with a similar hilt profile to the hilt profile of this sword, however, Lombok swords with this type of hilt profile seem to be cut and thrust weapons, not slashing weapons as is this sword.

If we turn our attention to Sumatera, we can find many variations of swords similar to the sword being discussed here:- forward weighted blades intended to slash, hilts of similar profile, blade ricasso with some attention to detail, plain, parallel sided scabbards. Additionally, Sumatera had sufficient population, wealth and power bases to make the possibility of construction of a sword of this quality a probability, as compared with Lombok, which was essentially a deprived backwater.

There is only one thing that troubles me with a Sumatera attribution for this sword, and that is the simplicity of the pommel carving:- it is very, very much below the complexity that we normally encounter in Sumatera examples of this type. I am of the opinion that it is most definitely not Lombok, I tend towards a Sumatera attribution, but because of the anomalous pommel, I feel we may eventually discover that a Malay source, or at least influence, is somehow involved.

1st October 2010, 08:55 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,211	I don't know if this will help any, but i enlarged the section in question and lightened up the surface area some. I can't really blow this up much larger or it starts to pixelate to much. It still looks like it could go either way, but i lean towards horn here. However i agree with Maurice that horn is a popular higher end material all over Indonesian and i don't think we can place the point of origin based on this choice alone. Attached Images

2nd October 2010, 12:21 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	The indigenous people of Lombok are the Sasak. They are an Eastern Island people, and prior to their domination by Majapahit in the 14th century their culture resembled more the cultures of the Eastern Islands, rather than the cultures of those islands on the western side of the Lombok Strait. Around 1600 most of the Sasaks had converted to Islam, after coming under the influence of migrants from Jawa and South Sulawesi. In the early 17th century the Balinese from Karangasem invaded Western Lombok and took control of the country, prior to this Lombok had been split up into petty principalities which were constantly fighting between themselves. The Balinese invasion and dominance put an end to this in Western Lombok. About the same time, the Makassarese settlers from the colonies on Sumbawa invaded Eastern Lombok and established their dominance there. By about the middle of the 18th century Bali had managed to gain control over all of Lombok, however, by the end of the 19th century the Dutch had replaced the Balinese as the dominant power. So, if we look at the cultural influences upon Lombok society we find:- the indigenous Sasak culture, Javanese Islamic culture, Balinese culture, and South Sulawesi culture. The cultural influences to be found in Lombok are the influences that have formed Lombok society and the artifacts to be found within that society. Now let's have a look at this sword under discussion here. It has a forward weighted blade intended for slashing, that blade is made by a forge technique that has resulted in what appears from the photos to a construction similar to that found in the blade of a keris, that is, patterned sides on a core, the ricasso has been thickened , squared and notched. The hilt has a horn pommel with some rather uncomplicated foliate carving, the body of the hilt is metal embossed with a foliate motif and applied twisted wire work, the base of the hilt has a semi guard with rounded edges. The scabbard has parallel sides made necessary by the widening of the forward weighted blade. The swords of the Eastern Islands tend to lack the refinement shown in this sword,and the hilt form does not occur in the Eastern Islands, thus native Sasak origin can be discounted. Swords with broad similarities can be found in Javanese weaponry, but the specific hilt form cannot be found in Javanese weaponry. This type of sword does not exist within Balinese weaponry. Neither the hilt form, nor the blade style is found in South Sulawesi, however a similar hilt base can be identified in some South Sulawesi swords. Djelengga provides illustrations of a sword with a similar hilt profile to the hilt profile of this sword, however, Lombok swords with this type of hilt profile seem to be cut and thrust weapons, not slashing weapons as is this sword. If we turn our attention to Sumatera, we can find many variations of swords similar to the sword being discussed here:- forward weighted blades intended to slash, hilts of similar profile, blade ricasso with some attention to detail, plain, parallel sided scabbards. Additionally, Sumatera had sufficient population, wealth and power bases to make the possibility of construction of a sword of this quality a probability, as compared with Lombok, which was essentially a deprived backwater. There is only one thing that troubles me with a Sumatera attribution for this sword, and that is the simplicity of the pommel carving:- it is very, very much below the complexity that we normally encounter in Sumatera examples of this type. I am of the opinion that it is most definitely not Lombok, I tend towards a Sumatera attribution, but because of the anomalous pommel, I feel we may eventually discover that a Malay source, or at least influence, is somehow involved.