Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


56 - Indonesian Knife, c.1920s

The 0.16 inch (0.4 cm) thick single edged blade features a convex edge profile and a slightly rounded mildly concave back profile and arises from a thicker 1/3 inch (0.8 cm) narrower width stem inserting into the hilt. The blade has been polished bright obscuring the structure of the forging, but there are repeating tell-tale forging flaws suggesting the possibility of something interesting. The moderately dark brown wood hilt curves back in a direction opposite the edge, rencong style, with subtle shaping and simple incised decoration. The sheath has a wooden wranka formed of wood similar to the hilt and a shaft covered entirely in brass with soldering seams on the side by the edge and the tip. Lew classified this as a Siran dagger and dated it to the 1920s. Overall length of the knife is 9¾ inches (25 cm) with the blade, exclusive of the stem, comprising just under 6 inches (15 cm) of that. Overall sheathed length is 12¾ inches (32.5 cm) with a knife weight of 3.2 ounces (93 grams) and a sheathed overall weight of just under 8 ounces (228 grams).


Indonesian Dagger

Indonesian Dagger

Indonesian Dagger

Indonesian Dagger



Return to item index page