Omani dagger? Filipino knife? and ivory hilt dha

[phil.reid]

More flea market pickups, think the jambiya horn maybe rhino, smaller knife is rasor sharp( filopines/ siam
?) burmese dha has queen victoria coin used as end buffer for handle.

[kai]

Hello Phil,

the smaller knife is from the coastal Malay populations of the Malacca Straits: Usually attributed to eastern Sumatra but could be just as well from the western Malay Peninsula.

Good quality carvings and complete; the blade seems to have been resharpened by an overzealous dealer/collector.

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

And it's called sewar!

[phil.reid]

Awesome,sorry i did know this but full of flu and brains foggy, have a german sword with the same style handle, thinking it belonged to a british officer who served there pre offical officers sword pattern and had his sword mounted with malay carved handle, ill try to post photos soon. What are the blades carved from??

[Sajen]

The blades are forged from fine laminated steel. Attached a picture from the blade of one from my examples.

[gp]

End right side is indeed a Burmese dha from around 1850-1880 which I believe to be a silver scabbard with filigree silver decoration. I had 2 similar ones which I sold recently.
Condition is reasonably well for its age but would recommend some cleaning of blade ( specially where it joins the handle/grip to avoid corrosion) grip and scabbard.
Nice to have the cord, which seems original, with it as they often go missing.

[phil.reid]

Originally Posted by Sajen

And it's called sewar!

what are the handles carved from?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by phil.reid

what are the handles carved from?

Yours is carved from water buffalo horn but wood and ivory is also common by sewars. Scabbard throat and foot are as well from this horn by your example.

[Sajen]

My honest collection of sewars.

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Yours is carved from water buffalo horn but wood and ivory is also common by sewars. Scabbard throat and foot are as well from this horn by your example.

Phil, Detlef does show an example like this in his grouping but does not mention that hilts covered in silver are also common for sewar.
And i do agree that there is some room for debate as to the proper name (sewar vs tumbuk lada) on this form. Sometimes it really does depend upon who you ask and where exactly they are from. These really fat and cylindrical hilts that are usually ivory are probably best referred to as tumbuk lada, but the line can be fuzzy for some examples. I would definitely call your example a sewar.
Here is my silver sewar example. The sheath is horn.
Can you show us some better photos of the blade. Kai seems to believe yours has been badly sharpened, but frankly, while i can see what might make him suspect that, your images aren't detailed enough to show whether that is an over sharpened edge or merely the affects of light reflecting off the blade. Try to photograph it in natural, even light so that it doesn't glint off the blade.

[kai]

And it's called sewar!

Thanks for coming to the rescue, Detlef!

Yes, sewar seems to enjoy the most widespread usage (despite some transliteration differences including from different Malay languages/dialects).

Regards,
Kai

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Phil,

the smaller knife is from the coastal Malay populations of the Malacca Straits: Usually attributed to eastern Sumatra but could be just as well from the western Malay Peninsula.

Good quality carvings and complete; the blade seems to have been resharpened by an overzealous dealer/collector.

Regards,
Kai

Why specifically a dealer or collector Kai?

[kai]

Hello Gavin,

Why specifically a dealer or collector Kai?

The blade has quite some pitting and someone apparently sanded it down very aggressively; this also resulted in a changed profile of the tip.

In the originating culture, a rusty blade would have been cleaned with mild acid and only gently re-polished if at all.

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

The blade has quite some pitting and someone apparently sanded it down very aggressively; this also resulted in a changed profile of the tip.

In the originating culture, a rusty blade would have been cleaned with mild acid and only gently re-polished if at all.

Hello Kai,

Yes, the edge towards the tip is wrongly reshaped and someone tried to take out the pitting. But it's still in an acceptable condition IMVHO. And you could be correct that it was a collector or dealer.

Regards,
Detlef