Boer,Paul Kruger's sword,what is it?

[silverclaws]

Greetings to you all,I am new here and am here because of a member of another forum suggested I may find here of interest.I am researching a sword for a friend,a sword which I know came from descendants of Boer,Paul Kruger,a soldier in the first Boer war and later the President of the Transvaal in 1880.We have been lead to believe the sword is not African in origin,but comes from The far east.We are interested in knowing more about it,what it is and where it comes from.An interesting point would be how it became to be part of Paul Kruger's belongings and was it used by him,but I suppose that is open to speculation


















The sword is convex on one side and slightly concave on the other side and has one cutting edge only,it is heavily rusted due to having been stored damp in a cellar.There is also engraving down both sides of the blade and chiselled ornamentation to the dull edge near the blade tip and brass flush stud ornamentation down one side only.

The handle appears to have stylised dragon creatures carved possibly out of ivory.

The Scabbard is a wooden clamshell design where the blade will only fit it one way.The scabbard also contains a thin turned stick with a blade on the end.The mounting runs vertically down the scabbard,with a brass or bronze S- hook on the lower end(back mounted sword?)

My friend also wishes to know how this blade may be cleaned up,so as to not damage any of the engraved blade ornamentation,which appears to be engraved by a punch.

Something else that would interest us,is the handle,there are two hollows,one in the top and one at the side,suggesting something may have been in these hollows/holes,from weapons of the area and time,what is likely to have been there?

[Henk]

Welcome to the forum.

What you are showing is a Mandau from Borneo Kalimantan. Used by the Dayak or Iban. Main purpose of this sword is to take heads in battle.

The holes in the handle are for tufts of goat hair.

Unfortunately a large part of the bindings of the hilt are gone and the hilt has a nasty crack. But the blade is very nice with engraving and inlay.

Cleaning the blade from rust, use lime or lemon juice. Rub with a slice of lemon over the blade. When the rust is gone clean with water and polish the blade quick with soda on a wet toothbrush. Dry the blade well and oil it.

[Maurice]

Hi,

I have a mandau with almost the same decoration in the blade as you have.
(I don't mean the brass or copper inlays).
I enclose some pics.
According a respected collector my mandau comes from Borneo in the area at the border of Sarawak / West Kalimantan.

But I have to say, I don't know if the same decoration of our blades, means the same area of our mandaus.
But maybe someone else can give an answer at this question.

[ariel]

When S. Africa was a Dutch colony, there were quite a lot of Malay slaves brought from Indonesia ( ever tried South African national dish call Bobotjie?). But they were mostly from Java and a bit from Sumatra.
Oom Kruger lived much later, when the British were in control and the importation of foreign workers was limited to the Indians ( Gandhi started there). Also, he never, ever left S. Africa.
If it indeed came from S. Africa, it was likely a souvenir, or ... I bet there was a ton of crazy Brits and Boers who collected sharp and pointy things

[silverclaws]

Originally Posted by ariel

When S. Africa was a Dutch colony, there were quite a lot of Malay slaves brought from Indonesia ( ever tried South African national dish call Bobotjie?). But they were mostly from Java and a bit from Sumatra.
Oom Kruger lived much later, when the British were in control and the importation of foreign workers was limited to the Indians ( Gandhi started there). Also, he never, ever left S. Africa.
If it indeed came from S. Africa, it was likely a souvenir, or ... I bet there was a ton of crazy Brits and Boers who collected sharp and pointy things

I Thankyou for your information,we are learning more and more each day.The weapon did indeed come from SA,the people that own it have recently relocated to Britain and from what I understand was given to them by descendants of Paul Kruger.

It is entirely possible that it may have originally been a souvenir from foreign shores that found it's way into his possesion or family,but a thought exists about Oom Paul as President of the Transvaal,would a weapon like that be a gift from a foreign dignitary?I have heard That it is a good example of a mandau,would it be likely that it would be suitable as a gift?

I also did wonder if were possible that any records were kept of official engagements by the president that might give reference to contact with the people of Borneo and there possibly shine some light on the mandaus origin or how it came to be in the family.

[kai]

Hello Andrew,

Ben and a few others here will hopefully nail down the origin of this Mandau. A piece from southwestern Borneo could show up in either British or Dutch collections.

By that time Borneo was firmly under British and Dutch rule. There are early presentation pieces for the Dutch and British crown. Due to the strict colonial administration I don't think it's likely that some local sultan (much less a member of the D(a)yak gentry) travelled to Transvaal or sent emissaries. If something that exotic ever happened, you should be able to find a notice in SA newspapers (I assume the libraries in London will have complete sets).

Apparently, presentation pieces were also given to some local colonial officers. Also early souvenir pieces of lesser quality which were never meant to be used "for real" are known (some of these are now veritable antiques, too). This is the real thing though and my best guess would be that a British officer picked this up while stationed in Borneo (Sarawak), moved on to SA, and possibly presented it as a gift to Paul Kruger - maybe he was more interested in Zulu pieces...

Regards,
Kai

[asomotif]

I believe the hilt is Mendalam type.

There is one depicted in 'Quer durch Borneo'
And this might well be the same period approx. 1900

Best regards,
Willem

[asomotif]

Found it !
the Mendalam mandau from Quer Durch Borneo.
Sad enough it does not have a close up of the handle.

[Jim McDougall]

Outstanding!!!
I love it when a provenanced weapon such as this turns up in a completely incongruent cultural sphere and is researched back to its origins and how it probably got there. Now thats history!!! I am always amazed at the fantastic core of knowledge held here on these weapons, and its great to learn more about them in this context. Thank you so much guys!!!

Nicely done Asomotif! Can you please note where you found this just for future reference?

All the best,
jim

[kai]

Hello Jim and Andrew,

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17379

This is well worth reading!

Regards,
Kai

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks very much Kai, will look into that
All the best,
Jim

[Mytribalworld]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Found it !
the Mendalam mandau from Quer Durch Borneo.
Sad enough it does not have a close up of the handle.

Its good possible that its a Mendalam type, however it doesn't have the typical "gear wheel" ( see my own example) carving on the handle.That wheel is found on many Mendalam hilts carved around 1900 when Nieuwenhuis visited Borneo.
I think also that Krugers sword dates from this time seen to the carving.
I also know that Kruger retired in The Netherlands ( and died in Switzerland)
he was visting The Hague in 1900.So its also possible that he got the sword here in the Netherlands probaly as a gift. It was use that times to make some show wich the rich treasures of " our colonies".

Arjan.

[silverclaws]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Found it !
the Mendalam mandau from Quer Durch Borneo.
Sad enough it does not have a close up of the handle.

Very similar I can see and even tried to do a photoshop job on it,not very successful,but the similarities are clear.Perhaps it is of the same craftsman or regional style;