Three swords from Central Timor

[Interested Party]

I'm sorry to see these haven't created more discussion. I wish I had something to add as I find these interesting. Did the culture use straight blades as well?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

I'm sorry to see these haven't created more discussion. I wish I had something to add as I find these interesting. Did the culture use straight blades as well?

Thank you very much for interest!

And yes, there are straight blades as well but normally not by these "type c" swords which are attributed to the Antoni people.
Timor has many different ethnic groups, look for further information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor
And it's different when we speak about Timor (we mean normally this island) or when Indonesian people speak about Timor, they mean the complete Eastern Small Sunda Islands including Alor, Savu, Roti, Wetar and so on.
See also "Traditional Weapons Of The Indonesian Archipelago", when you have this book.
Attached is a picture of my South West Timor sword "type d" described by the same source.

Regards,
Detlef

[David R]

Very nice to see these three, thank you for posting. Like others I sometimes spend weeks or even months away from this forum, and then have a good old trawl through on all the new posts.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David R

Very nice to see these three, thank you for posting. Like others I sometimes spend weeks or even months away from this forum, and then have a good old trawl through on all the new posts.

Thank you David! Surprisingly, they seem to have attracted relatively little interest!

Regards,
Detlef

[Ian]

Detlef, I think the paucity of responses to your posting of these swords reflects a lack of experience with the knives and swords of Timor. We just don't see very many. My own reaction was, "interesting swords ... I need to bookmark this page for future reference." A lack of response doesn't mean a lack of interest. A high number of views but few responses indicates high interest but not much to add to the discussion.

Now that you have illustrated these uncommon swords, I expect this thread will get revived from time to time as Forumites come across further examples. This is very useful material for our Archives.

Thanks for taking the time to create this thread.

Ian.

[Sajen]

Thank you for your warm words Ian!

[JeffS]

Adding examples after catching up with my database. The first one has 1748 date as well as circa 17C Solingen running wolf marks. The date stamp with stars matches VOC font but no VOC mark present. I believe it had coins on the eyes of the rooster head, based on size/apparent age/origin could be 19C Portuguese silver 200 reis, I may try to replace. The second sword is very basic. Last sword has elegant pommel carving.