Lovely and Unique Indonesian Sewar

CharlesS · 16th January 2018, 05:01 PM

Here is nice old sewar I picked up with a very good provenance dating from a collection started in 1890, and ended in 1920.

This old sewar has some lovely features and a very unusual hilt. When I first saw the hilt I thought it was Phytelephas macrocarpa, sometimes called "vegetable ivory", but I realized the outer layers were too thick for that. It is a wooden hilt with a wooden inlay of some sort at the end with the same material making tiny "teardrops" on each side.The hilt rests on a low-grade gold and enameled series of four "crowns" which is attached to a solid swassa bolster.

The blade is pattern welded, but not in an attractive way so I polished the blade.

The scabbard features an elongated mouth with a gold finial. This may have been decorative, but often when a finial of this type is seen it has been created to cover damage or repaired damage. I do not know the case here.

It seems that a couple of the silver bands are replacements.

I find it a very charming piece.

Dimensions:
Overall length: 13.5in.
Blade length: 8in.
Blade width at the forte: .75in.

16th January 2018, 05:01 PM	#1
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,857	Lovely and Unique Indonesian Sewar Here is nice old sewar I picked up with a very good provenance dating from a collection started in 1890, and ended in 1920. This old sewar has some lovely features and a very unusual hilt. When I first saw the hilt I thought it was Phytelephas macrocarpa, sometimes called "vegetable ivory", but I realized the outer layers were too thick for that. It is a wooden hilt with a wooden inlay of some sort at the end with the same material making tiny "teardrops" on each side.The hilt rests on a low-grade gold and enameled series of four "crowns" which is attached to a solid swassa bolster. The blade is pattern welded, but not in an attractive way so I polished the blade. The scabbard features an elongated mouth with a gold finial. This may have been decorative, but often when a finial of this type is seen it has been created to cover damage or repaired damage. I do not know the case here. It seems that a couple of the silver bands are replacements. I find it a very charming piece. Dimensions: Overall length: 13.5in. Blade length: 8in. Blade width at the forte: .75in. Attached Images