nice badik

[Freddy]

I found this one this morning on the antiques market. A simple Indonesian badik with a pamor blade. The handle and sheath are made out of wood. The sheath has a piece of horn at the bottom.

Nice thing about it, is that I can date it. There's a coin attached to the sheath with the inscription 'Nederlandsch Indië - 1945 - 1 C'

Length : 28 cm

[Sajen]

Hello Freddy,

nice badik with the "jimat" coins and the cloth. Nothing spectacular but very nice old authentic piece!

Regards,

Detlef

[Henk]

Freddy,

Very nice find. Congrats.
I'm afraid you are a little bit optimistic about dating it by the coin.The dutch 1945 coin says imho nothing about the age of this piece. It has definitely some age but i wouldn't put my hands in the fire for it.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Henk

Freddy,

Very nice find. Congrats.
I'm afraid you are a little bit optimistic about dating it by the coin.The dutch 1945 coin says imho nothing about the age of this piece. It has definitely some age but i wouldn't put my hands in the fire for it.

Hello Henk,

but the badik may be older as well and the coins are a later attachment!? The wooden parts of the badik seems to be well used. Never mind, it is a piece with charisma.

Regards,

Detlef

[Henk]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Henk,

but the badik may be older as well and the coins are a later attachment!? The wooden parts of the badik seems to be well used. Never mind, it is a piece with charisma.

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef,

Could be, or the coins are a later attachment to a younger badik. Both is possible. And although i think the scabbard is a replacement because i'm missing the oldfashioned craftmanship on the scabbard i completely agree with you that it is a fine piece. I certainly like it.

[Sajen]

Hello Henk,

I don't want to start a debate with you about this but the most badik I have seen and handled when they don't have been status objects have had a rather simple sheath. Look for example my small and humble collection of this type. With the exception of the silver sheathed badik have all a relative undecorated sheath.

Regards,

Detlef

[Henk]

Neither do i Detlef, but look at the scabbards of te wunderful badek you show us. It is not the decoration, but the finishing and fine craftmanship. Take another look again. I hope you will see what i mean.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Henk

Neither do i Detlef, but look at the scabbards of te wunderful badek you show us. It is not the decoration, but the finishing and fine craftmanship. Take another look again. I hope you will see what i mean.

Hello Henk,

of course I see what you mean but I have looked by all pieces of my collection for good quality, I have seen a lot with low quality. All my pieces have something special or have a story, so is the small in top a present from a uncle of my wife who living on Buton.
Never mind, I would be glad to have the badik from Freddy in my own collection!

[David]

In regards to quality and craftsmanship, it seems to me that this has varying levels in all time periods. In each age there are good, bad and mediocre craftsman. Sometimes something like a sheath or hilt might be made by the owner themselves if they could not afford to have a professional make one. This is all dependent upon what a person can afford.This dress seems to have some real age, patina, and wear to it.
As for the coins, i don't believe they are a good determining factor of age at all. The 1945 coin may have been added in 1945 or it may have been added in 1955, 65, 75, etc. There is really no telling. But the material has some apparent age so i would guess earlier than later. The one thing we can be sure of was that the coin was not added before 1945.
And of course the coin may have been added well after the badik was created, which would be my guess as this badik seems to have some authentic age to it. I would think it is much older that 1945, probably closer to 1900 or before. I can see no possible reason to spend the time and effort to artificially age a piece like this as it is not a high price item that is likely to be worth the effort of making it look older than it really is to increase it's market value. I agree with Detlef that it seem to be a nice little commoner user badik that certainly has a place in anyone's collection of such knives.

[Rick]

I like these simple weapons .

The work on the scabbard (from what I can see) seems quite competent; it's appearance is simply rough, unfinished .
Is the wood one piece ?


@ Freddy,
Could you please upload your pictures to the site ?
Or send to me and I'll upload ..
For the sake of the archive ?

[Freddy]

I have tried to upload my pics in the requested way...I hope this works

[Rick]

Thanks Freddy !

[Tim Simmons]

Is this a Badik? It is similar in overall form. I have held on to it as I like the strong confident chunky work on the scabbard which I think is not typical. The blade has been forged and ground from a file. The handle is finished with a shotgun cartridge. I can make out the number 12 and the word COOPPAL. The scabbard has nylon fishing line binding which means it was made after 1938, there are no signs that the nylon is an addition to an older knife. Although simple in appearance the shapes are pleasing and the knife is most purposeful that I think whoever made it had done many times before.