Another Dayak Sword

[VANDOO]

THE DAYAK SWORD IS NOT AN OLD ONE BUT WAS MADE IN BORNEO. I SAW SOME LIKE IT IN SHOPS IN KUCHING AS WELL AS FOR SALE ON EBAY 2001 THRU PRESENT. THE MORE ATTRACTIVE ONES HAD NICELY CARVED BONE SECTIONS ATTACHED TO THE SCABBARD NOT JUST CARVED WOOD. WHERE IN BORNEO THEY WERE CARVED I DON'T KNOW.
THE TOP SWORD LOOKS TO BE FROM ONE OF THE INDONESIAN ISLANDS PERHAPS TORAJA OR TIMOR. THE NEXT ONE IS AN ACTUAL MILITARY SWORD. THE LAST ONE I CAN'T TELL MUCH ABOUT BUT DOSEN'T LOOK OLD.
HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF AN EXAMPLE CLOSE TO WHAT YOU SHOW. THIS ONE WAS DESCRIBED AS MADE OF CARVED BONE HARD TO TELL FROM PICTURES BUT I HAVE SEEN THEM IN WOOD AND BONE. THE BONE EXAMPLES COULD LIKELY BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE SWORD IN THE SMALL SHOP UNLESS THEY DEAL IN REAL ANTIQUES. MOST SHOPS I SAW IN BORNEO HAD FEW OR NO GOOD OLD TOP QUALITY MANDAU FOR SALE. THERE WERE LOTS OF SWORDS FROM NEW TO PERHAPS 50 T0 80 YEARS OLD BUT FEW 100 YEAR OLD ONES AVAILABLE. THERE IS QUITE A VARIETY OF ITEMS TO BE SEEN AND A TRIP TO BORNEO IS FUN AND VERY INTERESTING.
THOSE WITH MONEY BUT LITTLE KNOWLEGE WILL OFTEN BUY THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND ATTRACTIVE/ EYE CATCHING ITEM. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT AND HIS FRIENDS WILL BE IMPRESSED. I AM FAR FROM AN EXPERT OR CONNISOUR OF DAYAK WEAPONS AND HAVE BOUGHT THINGS THAT THOSE WITH TRUE KNOWLEGE WOULD TURN THEIR NOSE UP AT, BUT THATS WHAT KEEPS IT INTERESTING AND FUN. IT ALSO MAKES A MARKET FOR OBSOLETE ITEMS SO SMALL SHOPS WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE AND MARKET THEM.

[Sajen]

Any chance to post bigger pictures?

[Dinggat]

VANDOO, thanks for the answer. It surprises me a bit that this is not an original piece, as the owner was a little wealthier than the average Indonesian and seemed quite proud of his collection. But I trust your expertise no doubt. Maybe he was tricked by the seller himself.

Sajen, you get full resolution if you "click to zoom" on the imageshack website and then save the photo on your harddrive. If you already knew that and ask for even higher resolution, unfortunately no, this is already full resolution. My camera only has 6 Megapixels, which is far below average for 2010 standards, but well, it's all I got.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Dinggat

VANDOO, thanks for the answer. It surprises me a bit that this is not an original piece, as the owner was a little wealthier than the average Indonesian and seemed quite proud of his collection. But I trust your expertise no doubt. Maybe he was tricked by the seller himself.

Sajen, you get full resolution if you "click to zoom" on the imageshack website and then save the photo on your harddrive. If you already knew that and ask for even higher resolution, unfortunately no, this is already full resolution. My camera only has 6 Megapixels, which is far below average for 2010 standards, but well, it's all I got.

You can also upload your photos directly to our database for posterity and continuation of the thread's integrity in case they get removed from your hosting site in the future .
We prefer that if possible .

Any questions; feel free to ask .

[Dinggat]

I tried to, but the upload tool says that my pictures exceed the maximum size limit. As I think the bigger the better for seeing details I decided to go with an external hoster instead of resizing.

Thanks at all for those informations. Most welcome

[David]

Originally Posted by Dinggat

I tried to, but the upload tool says that my pictures exceed the maximum size limit. As I think the bigger the better for seeing details I decided to go with an external hoster instead of resizing.

Thanks at all for those informations. Most welcome

This is a misunderstanding about resizing images. File size is not just dependent upon the dimensions of the image, but the resolution size (ppi). Computer screens can't read ppi above 80, so change your resolution to 80ppi and the dimensions to something like 7x10. That will be plenty large for viewing, but still have a file size small enough for the site.
The reason it is not a good idea to use another server for your images is that maybe a year from now it won't be there any more and this thread will no longer have your example to refer too.

[Sajen]

Hello Dingat,

now I understand!

The top sword is from the Timor Islands ( Alor, Pantar, Roti, Savu, Timor and Wetar) and named in the book from Zonneveld type a.

Regards,

Detlef

[Dinggat]

Originally Posted by David

This is a misunderstanding about resizing images. File size is not just dependent upon the dimensions of the image, but the resolution size (ppi). Computer screens can't read ppi above 80, so change your resolution to 80ppi and the dimensions to something like 7x10. That will be plenty large for viewing, but still have a file size small enough for the site.
The reason it is not a good idea to use another server for your images is that maybe a year from now it won't be there any more and this thread will no longer have your example to refer too.

Alright, didn't know that. Yet, there's not only a byte maximum, but also a resolution maximum of 1280x1280.

But your reasoning about this thread staying useful in the future is of course right, so here they are again, as attachments

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Can the parang, despite not being an antique one, be attributed to a certain Dayak subgroup? And what shape do you think the blade has or might have? Same as the one VANDOO posted?

Sajen, thank you. I'll look up that Timorese sword in the Zonneveld book. Fortunately the library where I work has it in their inventory, and I often browse through it when I have nothing to do Luckily enough, no one ever borrowed it...