Sumpitan for sharing and discussion

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Hello Detlef,

the metal parts and the wood show a lot of age.
The rattan binding is very bright coloured so indeed appears to be more recent. But this rattan does show cracks that indicate some age.

The scabbard has a lot of patina, but it is more difficult to judge in this artificial light.

What materinal is the mouthpiece ? metal ? brass ?

Overal a nice piece. 80-100 years seems like a possibe age to me as well.

Best regards,
Willem

Hello Willem,

have hoped that you chime in since I know that you own some great sumpitans. Thank you very much for your educated opinion.
The mouth piece is from brass and shows a good old patination.

Best regards,
Detlef

[Maurice]

Hello Detlef,

Nice to see a sumpitan with Original scabbard.
This is pretty rare, as most sumpitans I know have no scabbard.


I also have a sumpitan with scabbard, which I attached some photos for reference.

Kind regards,
Maurice

[VANDOO]

MAURICE THAT'S AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE WITH FANCY FIBER DESIGN BINDINGS AND A VERY NICE TRADITIONAL SPEAR BLADE AND SCABBARD. THIS SCABBARD WAS DESIGNED NOT ONLY TO COVER THE BLADE BUT THE HOLE IN THE END OF THE BLOWPIPE. THIS FEATURE WOULD BE VERY GOOD TO KEEP DIRT,SPIDERS OR BUGS FROM GETTING IN AND MESSING UP THE SMOOTH BORE OF THE BLOWPIPE. IT WOULD ALSO FIT MORE SNUGLY AS IT WOULD FIT OVER THE BLADE AND THE OTHER METAL TANG END AS WELL AS OVER THE BLOWPIPE END. I HAVE FOUND LEAVES STUFFED IN THE BLOWPIPE BORE AT BOTH ENDS ON AMAZON EXAMPLES THAT SERVE THE SAME PURPOSE. (AMAZON BLOWGUNS DON'T HAVE A SPEAR BLADE)

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Maurice

Hello Detlef,

Nice to see a sumpitan with Original scabbard.
This is pretty rare, as most sumpitans I know have no scabbard.


I also have a sumpitan with scabbard, which I attached some photos for reference.

Kind regards,
Maurice

Hello Maurice,

thank you very much for sharing pictures of your nice sumpitan. Like Barry I am fond of the nice rattan design and the well carved scabbard which not only cover the hole but the iron notch as well. May I ask how long your piece is?

Best regards,
Detlef

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Maurice,

thank you very much for sharing pictures of your nice sumpitan. Like Barry I am fond of the nice rattan design and the well carved scabbard which not only cover the hole but the iron notch as well. May I ask how long your piece is?

Best regards,
Detlef

The carving of the scabbard tells me that the blowpipe most likely is from the Kutai area (east Borneo). Therefore I decided to keep this one, as this is one of my most favorite area's.

The iron notch isn't iron but silver instead.
My blowpipe (ofcourse I mean the sumpitan) is 241 cm long.

Kind regards
Maurice

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by Maurice

I also have a sumpitan with scabbard, which I attached some photos for reference.

Kind regards,
Maurice

Wow, I already forgot that this super sumpitan is part of your collection.
Thanks for sharing this unique piece.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Wow, I already forgot that this super sumpitan is part of your collection.
Thanks for sharing this unique piece.

Thank you Willem,
You have beautifull examples as well!

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Sajen]

Two more sumpitan entered the collection, one has a notch from wood but the important part is broken, both are longer as the first example and both spear points show pitting from corrosion which I have removed, at least the active corrosion. All comments are very welcome.

[Ian]

Nice examples Detlef. Any ideas about how old these are.

Ian

[Treeslicer]

Wow! Blowguns with bayonets. Pretty work, too. Thanks for posting these, y'all.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

Nice examples Detlef. Any ideas about how old these are.

Hi Ian,

thank you! I only can guess. Both spear points seems to have a good age. The one with the bright binding could has a renewed binding but shows already the typical cracks in the rotan which suggest that it is old/antique. The wood from the blow pipe shows also a good patination so I think first half of the 20th century with a maybe older spear point.
The other one shows an overall "smoke" patination from open fire, difficult to guess but could be a little bit older.
I hope Willem or Maurice will comment since I think they will be able to tell us more.

Regards,
Detlef