Ceremonial Spear? Dayak? Batak? or ?____?

milandro · 22nd September 2024, 08:43 AM

Welcome to the forum.

I am afraid that this is one of those pieces " for those who travel...", at least, in my humble opinion. I wouldn't attribute any special significance to any element that you are mentioning.

This is a piece made to impress the foreign traveller and be sold at one of the countless markets in Indonesia (they may even come from very common tourist spots).

We see a fair amount of krises , tombaks, mandau, decorated with fairly new " tribal" paint signs and teeth in The Netherlands. Some were brought back very recently.

This seems to be a tourist piece as many others

At best they feature repurposed blades integrated in sheaths which are covered in decorations made to impress , sometimes (and I think this is now the case) the blades are not old repurposed ones but especially made for the production of these flashy items. In my opinion, sorry, this is what you have.

There are references in the archive and a discussion on the fact that in Indonesia at some point these became very " popular" among travellers

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=teeth+dayak

Sajen · 22nd September 2024, 10:42 AM

Welcome to the forum! I am sad to say that your item is made for those who travel. You can see similar items in the link Milandro had provided.

Regards,
Detlef

Tim Simmons · 22nd September 2024, 12:40 PM

The teeth seem to be pig premolars.

milandro · 22nd September 2024, 12:58 PM

they are generally pig or dog and of course are there to suggest the " human" origin since these objects are invariably sold with the mysterious " headhunter's " innuendo ".

Ian · 22nd September 2024, 03:30 PM

I agree with the comments above. I have two "Mandau" of poor construction that have similar decorations. I was told that they were made in Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea).

Sajen · 22nd September 2024, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian

I was told that they were made in Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea).

I don't know if this is correct, I think that this is a myth.

bellejoie · 28th September 2024, 11:14 PM

Thanks to milandro, naturalist, Sajen, Tim, Ian!
C’est gentil – most kind!
If others have thoughts, we welcome learning from expertise of members in this forum.
We are grateful and appreciate knowing the truth about this artistic spear.
If it was actually a genuine ethnic creation, our goal would be to protect its cultural heritage (especially if it had some inherent spiritual or meaningful belief importance).
Therefore, it is also important to know what it is not—to avoid false claims or misrepresentations that would do a disservice to any native culture.
Our goal has been to find a suitable disposition of our possessions as part of planning for estate succession. So, this helps to know it’s merely attractive craftmanship. We’ll aim to ensure it’s admired simply for decoration.

22nd September 2024, 08:43 AM	#1
milandro Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Location: Netherlands Posts: 497	Welcome to the forum. I am afraid that this is one of those pieces " for those who travel...", at least, in my humble opinion. I wouldn't attribute any special significance to any element that you are mentioning. This is a piece made to impress the foreign traveller and be sold at one of the countless markets in Indonesia (they may even come from very common tourist spots). We see a fair amount of krises , tombaks, mandau, decorated with fairly new " tribal" paint signs and teeth in The Netherlands. Some were brought back very recently. This seems to be a tourist piece as many others At best they feature repurposed blades integrated in sheaths which are covered in decorations made to impress , sometimes (and I think this is now the case) the blades are not old repurposed ones but especially made for the production of these flashy items. In my opinion, sorry, this is what you have. There are references in the archive and a discussion on the fact that in Indonesia at some point these became very " popular" among travellers http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=teeth+dayak Last edited by milandro; 22nd September 2024 at 09:17 AM.

28th September 2024, 11:14 PM	#7
bellejoie Member Join Date: Sep 2024 Location: Eastern USA Posts: 2	Thanks for assessments and insights Thanks to milandro, naturalist, Sajen, Tim, Ian! C’est gentil – most kind! If others have thoughts, we welcome learning from expertise of members in this forum. We are grateful and appreciate knowing the truth about this artistic spear. If it was actually a genuine ethnic creation, our goal would be to protect its cultural heritage (especially if it had some inherent spiritual or meaningful belief importance). Therefore, it is also important to know what it is not—to avoid false claims or misrepresentations that would do a disservice to any native culture. Our goal has been to find a suitable disposition of our possessions as part of planning for estate succession. So, this helps to know it’s merely attractive craftmanship. We’ll aim to ensure it’s admired simply for decoration.

22nd September 2024, 10:42 AM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,269	Welcome to the forum! I am sad to say that your item is made for those who travel. You can see similar items in the link Milandro had provided. Regards, Detlef

22nd September 2024, 12:40 PM	#3
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,875	The teeth seem to be pig premolars.

22nd September 2024, 12:58 PM	#4
milandro Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Location: Netherlands Posts: 497	they are generally pig or dog and of course are there to suggest the " human" origin since these objects are invariably sold with the mysterious " headhunter's " innuendo ".

22nd September 2024, 03:30 PM	#5
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,453	I agree with the comments above. I have two "Mandau" of poor construction that have similar decorations. I was told that they were made in Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea).