unknown naski inscripted malchus blade?

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by broadaxe

Sorry, it looks exactly like a mandau blade to me. I had the chance of holding dozens of them at Oriental-Arms. The golden dot work is typical and the scale pattern appears to be of severe thermic damage.

yes on behalf of the outline, my first impression was also directed towards the dayak head hunter swords.
also because some of them have inlays with larger dots or stars.(kalimantan)

of this track, I passed off, I mean
can you please post a picture of a Mandau like the blade under discussion, with a western type of ricasso and with double fullers?

best,

[broadaxe]

Well, since no two mandaus are exactly alike it is hard to find an exact twin. Off my field, I do not have access to a vast image bank of indonesian arms. It appears a double fullered mandau is quite a rarity and I understand this blade may look european. Double fuller mandau with lesser pronounced ricasso: http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos.php?id=2344

[cornelistromp]

I see what you mean, thanks for the link.
even though the differences are not so great at first glance, the differences in blade geometry are larger. This is truly oriental sword blade (south east asian) and the blade under discussion does look more western. (middle eastern)
Another very oriental looking Malchus was exhibited in the GNM in Nuremberg. it has been described as german 15thC.

I am not yet convinced but leave all options open, maybe there will be more clarity.

best,

[G. McCormack]

I'm sorry, but this is pretty clearly a SEA blade from the last 1-200 years. It is a very nice blade. But not early, not middle eastern.

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by G. McCormack

I'm sorry, but this is pretty clearly a SEA blade from the last 1-200 years. It is a very nice blade. But not early, not middle eastern.

thank you for the pictures, I am familiar with the Mandau and its decoration.
it looks a little different though. Do you happen to have also examples of mandau blades with Naskhi inscription and magic squares that can be placed.

thanks+regards

[broadaxe]

Another thing to take in consideration is the tang - stubby and somewhat downcurved, typical SE.
That last flachion has an awsome blade, I think the hilt is a later (yet old) refitting, maybe colonial dutch.

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by broadaxe

Another thing to take in consideration is the tang - stubby and somewhat downcurved, typical SE.
That last flachion has an awsome blade, I think the hilt is a later (yet old) refitting, maybe colonial dutch.

yes thanks for the suggestion, though this is a very common feature for many, around the world.
further I have also seen a lot of SA origin with a twist (cork turner) in the tang.

exactly a hit! Yes, I also think Dutch colonial probably Ceylon and later as the blade, if you look at the carved faces, they have an asian/oriental look.

best,