Mandau for sharing/comments

Mytribalworld · 30th May 2011, 08:47 PM

! Are there any books on this subject? I am very surprised that the origin and age of Dayak swords can be found so exactly, and when one asks about Indian arms then normally one gets no exact information...[/QUOTE]

Hi Tatjana, it should be a misunterstanding that origin and age can be found exactly for all dayakswords in general. There are a lot mixed style swords as handles and blades where traded and tribes migrated to other parts of Borneo.
Besides that the enourmous artistic skill of different dayak carvers have made such an large ammount of different styles that it almost endless even for advanced collectors. There are no books about this subject, some info is in Hornbill and Dragon, some in Quer durch Borneo, In Centraal Borneo, Iban art ect.

Arjan

asomotif · 30th May 2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandaukudi

Hi Tatjana, it should be a misunterstanding that origin and age can be found exactly for all dayakswords in general...

Tatyana, you are lucky that you bought a style that is well documentated in "Quer durch Borneo". Often it is not very easy to determine the origin and there are all kinds of mixes of blades and handles.
For instance a rare one in this thread : http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=mendalam

Indianajones · 2nd June 2011, 03:08 PM

Indeed Arjan to reply on your comment, it takes a long time and research to be able to distinguish a particular style to each different Dayak subgroup and also to geographic locations. But is is certainly possible!
This is what I have done for years and thats why I had made this map.

Every subgroup has its own style or better said characteristics and by this it is certainly possible to pinpoint a specific mandau to a specific location.
This is actually not only regarding Mandaus from Borneo but in general to any tribal art item (must be good old and authentic ofcourse). This is ofcourse depending on the amount of studymaterial been done or available (to the researcher).

You are right that influences and traded materials (blades) can make specific identification more dificult. For instance; a lot of tribes like the Bahau and Aoheng and Modang all use the particular long mouth design with teeth looking like a row of pianokeys and also the characteristic 'fat elbow' .

But I wont go in so far details here. As everybody knows it would take a long long story to explain and found my opinion detail by detail.

This research on base of the old Photos and many books and than being able to pinpoint YOUR mandau (or any item) to a specific location or/and perhaps ceremonial use is what it makes such fun collecting these!

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30th May 2011, 08:47 PM	#1
Mytribalworld Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 400	! Are there any books on this subject? I am very surprised that the origin and age of Dayak swords can be found so exactly, and when one asks about Indian arms then normally one gets no exact information...[/QUOTE] Hi Tatjana, it should be a misunterstanding that origin and age can be found exactly for all dayakswords in general. There are a lot mixed style swords as handles and blades where traded and tribes migrated to other parts of Borneo. Besides that the enourmous artistic skill of different dayak carvers have made such an large ammount of different styles that it almost endless even for advanced collectors. There are no books about this subject, some info is in Hornbill and Dragon, some in Quer durch Borneo, In Centraal Borneo, Iban art ect. Arjan

2nd June 2011, 03:08 PM	#3
Indianajones Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 180	Indeed Arjan to reply on your comment, it takes a long time and research to be able to distinguish a particular style to each different Dayak subgroup and also to geographic locations. But is is certainly possible! This is what I have done for years and thats why I had made this map. Every subgroup has its own style or better said characteristics and by this it is certainly possible to pinpoint a specific mandau to a specific location. This is actually not only regarding Mandaus from Borneo but in general to any tribal art item (must be good old and authentic ofcourse). This is ofcourse depending on the amount of studymaterial been done or available (to the researcher). You are right that influences and traded materials (blades) can make specific identification more dificult. For instance; a lot of tribes like the Bahau and Aoheng and Modang all use the particular long mouth design with teeth looking like a row of pianokeys and also the characteristic 'fat elbow' . But I wont go in so far details here. As everybody knows it would take a long long story to explain and found my opinion detail by detail. This research on base of the old Photos and many books and than being able to pinpoint YOUR mandau (or any item) to a specific location or/and perhaps ceremonial use is what it makes such fun collecting these!