Borneo knife, lading cara arab?

kai · 29th July 2023, 06:48 PM

Nice knife, Eric!

This clearly is from Negara with its major melting pot Banjarmasin: The engravings exhibit strong Malay influence and especially the carved hilt and scabbard are typical for short blades from that area.

BTW, "lading cara arab" is most likely just a description (given by a local to an inquisitive colonial officer) rather than a real name utilized within the culture for the piece shown in Schmeltz/AvZ. If anyone insists that this shall refer to a specific type of knife/dagger, I have to admit that I also fail to see a close relationship between the blade shown in Schmeltz/AvZ and Eric's piece; the scabbard construction is very different and the hilt with hardly more than similar overall shape.

While there evidently was contact via trade (and probably exchanges of gifts between rulers), I fail to see any evidence for Moro influences or even origins for this knife.

Regards,
Kai

29th July 2023, 06:48 PM	#9
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Nice knife, Eric! This clearly is from Negara with its major melting pot Banjarmasin: The engravings exhibit strong Malay influence and especially the carved hilt and scabbard are typical for short blades from that area. BTW, "lading cara arab" is most likely just a description (given by a local to an inquisitive colonial officer) rather than a real name utilized within the culture for the piece shown in Schmeltz/AvZ. If anyone insists that this shall refer to a specific type of knife/dagger, I have to admit that I also fail to see a close relationship between the blade shown in Schmeltz/AvZ and Eric's piece; the scabbard construction is very different and the hilt with hardly more than similar overall shape. While there evidently was contact via trade (and probably exchanges of gifts between rulers), I fail to see any evidence for Moro influences or even origins for this knife. Regards, Kai