Three swords from Central Timor

[Sajen]

I want to show you three swords from Central Timor from my collection. K. H. Sirag described this type of Timor swords as "type c" in the book from Albert G. van Zonneveld. They always have a handle shaped like a cock's head. The blades are mostly of foreign manufacture and most of the time curved, straight blades are not common so the one in down is an exceptional case.
The top one I've shown here a long time ago before, the two others are relatively new to the collection.
The top one has a Dutch klewang blade from Hembrug, the one in the middle of an unknown foreign saber, the small one in down of unknown origin. The one in the middle missing the inserted crest and maybe a tuft of hair, see picture. The scabbard is made from two pieces of kerbau (water buffalo) horn. By all three are the fittings from silver, heavily patinated which I only partly cleaned.
Top one is 77 cm long inside scabbard, 75 cm without, blade alone is 60 cm long.
The middle one is 69 cm inside scabbard, 65,5 cm without and a blade from 51,5 cm.
The small one in down is 51 cm inside scabbard, 47,5 cm without and a blade from 33,5 cm.
When other members have similar swords feel free to show them here.

[Sajen]

The handles.

[Sajen]

Over 100 views and not one single comment?

[milandro]

the top one appears to be a repurposed Hembrug Dutch " Klewang"( the Army and Navy weapon still in used in the NL by the marechaussee and formerly used by the KNIL army)

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by milandro

the top one appears to be a repurposed Hembrug Dutch " Klewang"( the Army and Navy weapon still in used in the NL by the marechaussee and formerly used by the KNIL army)

Yes, you are correct! It has a blade from a Hembrug klewang like I stated in #1. These swords Karel Sirag described in the book from Albert, "Traditional Weapons Of The Indonesian Archipelago" as "type c" have most of the time repurposed blades of European manufacture.
Thank you very much for the first comment!

Regards,
Detlef

[milandro]

cheers , sorry I have missed that part

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by milandro

cheers , sorry I have missed that part

No need to say "sorry"! I am glad you got the ball rolling!

[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.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Over 100 views and not one single comment?

Nice Timor swords Detlef,

But I'm more attracted to the Timorese 'Surik' kind of swords, from the 'Antoni' tribe.
And if they have an old VOC blade, than I can't resist them.

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Maurice

Nice Timor swords Detlef,

But I'm more attracted to the Timorese 'Surik' kind of swords, from the 'Antoni' tribe.
And if they have an old VOC blade, than I can't resist them.

Hi Maurice,

Wow, a great sword from Pantar (my personal guess)! I prefer these swords also but they are rare and most of the time very expensive.
But when I could choose a sword from your display I would prefer the pade in up!

Best regards,
Detlef

[Maurice]

Hi Detlef,

Thank you.
I've had several pades in the past, but I kept this 'Tawu' because of the typical Celebes 'Sangori' carved motif on top of the hilt (where the endcap usually is), which I never had seen before.
I would not be able to choose between one or the other. I like them both equally!
I don't want to 'hack' your threat, but here a photo (2 photos ) of the carving on the hilt.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Maurice

Thank you.
I've had several pades in the past, but I kept this 'Tawu' because of the typical Celebes 'Sangori' carved motif on top of the hilt (where the endcap usually is), which I never had seen before.
I would not be able to choose between one or the other. I like them both equally!
I don't want to 'hack' your threat, but here a photo (2 photos ) of the carving on the hilt.

Very nice pade Maurice and like you I've never seen such a carving at this place. I own four pade but not one has a carving at this place. Nice feature.
And for sure the surik is a beautiful sword as well!

Regards,
Detlef