Crowns on Aceh weapons revisited

Jentayu · 2nd November 2016, 11:44 AM

Royal sewar that belongs to a Teuku in Aceh as part of their family heirloom.

Loedjoe · 7th November 2016, 11:45 AM

In post #90, Asomotif shows us a rencong with a quadruple crown, like the crowns on siwaih (e.g. posts #64, 74, 92).

Has anyone come across other rencong with similar quadruple crowns?

asomotif · 8th November 2016, 12:20 PM

Hello loedjoe,

Well noted. this rencong is definately a rencong, but has all the other Siwai features. The suasa ferrule and the quadruppel crowns.

I cannot recall a similar example. Maybe someone else does ?

Best regards,
Willem

Loedjoe · 8th November 2016, 01:35 PM

Many thanks, Willem, for your response. Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Best wishes, Tim

kai · 8th November 2016, 02:46 PM

Hello Tim,

Congrats! I hope we didn't drove up the price too much back then!

Your rencong is certainly special with those 4 rows; it's noteworthy that in this siwaih configuration, usually the 2nd row is quite tall and more rounded as if leaning towards a glupa configuration (usually one large row with more or less rounded tips and tiny indentations at both sides of the tip; and another small row of wide triangles at the base) while the uppermost 2 rows are puco style (triangles with acute tips). Most nobility rencong with "crowns" exhibit the puco configuration while a few have glupa (and yours the siwaih "mix"

).

If you go back to Erik's pic at the very beginning of this thread, the rencong with the silver hilt (2nd from right) seems to also lean towards a glupa base with a single puco row on top.

Incidentally, the rencong on the right hand side has a similar suassa-covered bolster and also this backward-directed duru seuke (base extension of the blade) which I associate with Gayo rather than Aceh. OTOH, the enamel work in your example seems to suggest an Aceh origin though...

Regards,
Kai

Maurice · 8th November 2016, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loedjoe

Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Till we find another one like this, we could consider it as unique!

Kind regards,
Maurice

Maurice · 8th November 2016, 08:08 PM

PS. Ever have seen anything like this? Suassa crowns, in the same style as the golden crowns?

Is this also unique, or "only" very rare? Are there others like this in someones collection?

Loedjoe · 9th November 2016, 09:18 AM

Thank you Kai for your interesting comments on crowns - I must look more carefully at examples in future. Not sure whether my example is Aceh with Gayo feature, or Gayo wth Aceh feature!

Thank you Maurice for the 'unique' comment - I think the same can be said of your sikin with the suasa crown - very nice indeed.

Loedjoe · 5th June 2019, 04:21 PM

Here is another siwaih - not quite up to the high standard of many of the others shown in this thread.
Black wood hilt with highlights of reddish brown (ebony?), black wood sheath with dugong ivory tip and ivory projection. 42 cm, blade 27 cm (9 mm thick at the base), hilt 10.5 cm. A band presumably missing an inch or so below the top of the sheath.

asomotif · 9th November 2016, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loedjoe

Many thanks, Willem, for your response. Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Best wishes, Tim

Tim,

Congratulations. that is a very nice and rare piece.
Could you share some more pictures with us ?

Best regards,
Willem

Loedjoe · 10th November 2016, 10:20 AM

Dear Willem

Pictures posted here, with pleasure (they are the ones taken by the auction house; rather better than ones I would be able to take).
Measurements - 42 cm, blade 25 cm (9.5 mm thick at the base), hilt and collar 17 cm.
The hilt is hippopotamus ivory; on each of the four sides, immediately below the pommel, there is an incised flower (a lotus?) with the tip pointing towards the blade, all four very worn with age, the design on one side almost invisible.
The blade is slightly flexible towards the tip – the rencong was received slightly bent at the tip, and was able to be straightened. This seems to me a curious feature; surely it would be fairly useless as a weapon if the tip bends so easily – but perhaps as a status piece it was not really intended for use? Has anyone else come across rencong with bendable tips?
Collected for his private collection by a European businessman, Riccardo Salvini, the representative of the firms Transmarina Kompaniet Aktiebolag and Aktiebolaget Svensk-Engelska Oceankompaniet, in Stockholm, during his journey through India, the Dutch Indies and Batavia (Java) and the Far East between 1920 and 1921.
Does anyone know anything about Salvini and his collection? Information about him/it would be most welcome.

Maurice · 13th November 2016, 09:19 AM

Dear Tim,

I think people here are overwhelmed by the beautiness of your super high end rencong. That is why there is so little feedback amongst the forumites on this super piece?

Anyway, it is by far the most beautiful rencong I have ever seen, and I have seen (and handled) a lot of high end rencongs before!

Another great thing is that hippo ivory was very popular in the Gayo- and Alas areas!
So besides it looks breathtaking, it is also very interesting because it is unique and cross cultural ( Aceh at the other hand, and Gayo-Alas at the other hand).

Kind regards,
Maurice

2nd November 2016, 11:44 AM	#1
Jentayu Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 61	Royal sewar that belongs to a Teuku in Aceh as part of their family heirloom. Attached Images

8th November 2016, 08:08 PM	#7
Maurice Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,324	suassa crowns. PS. Ever have seen anything like this? Suassa crowns, in the same style as the golden crowns? Is this also unique, or "only" very rare? Are there others like this in someones collection? Attached Images

10th November 2016, 10:20 AM	#11
Loedjoe Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Oxford (UK) Posts: 96	Dear Willem Pictures posted here, with pleasure (they are the ones taken by the auction house; rather better than ones I would be able to take). Measurements - 42 cm, blade 25 cm (9.5 mm thick at the base), hilt and collar 17 cm. The hilt is hippopotamus ivory; on each of the four sides, immediately below the pommel, there is an incised flower (a lotus?) with the tip pointing towards the blade, all four very worn with age, the design on one side almost invisible. The blade is slightly flexible towards the tip – the rencong was received slightly bent at the tip, and was able to be straightened. This seems to me a curious feature; surely it would be fairly useless as a weapon if the tip bends so easily – but perhaps as a status piece it was not really intended for use? Has anyone else come across rencong with bendable tips? Collected for his private collection by a European businessman, Riccardo Salvini, the representative of the firms Transmarina Kompaniet Aktiebolag and Aktiebolaget Svensk-Engelska Oceankompaniet, in Stockholm, during his journey through India, the Dutch Indies and Batavia (Java) and the Far East between 1920 and 1921. Does anyone know anything about Salvini and his collection? Information about him/it would be most welcome. Attached Images

7th November 2016, 11:45 AM	#2
Loedjoe Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Oxford (UK) Posts: 96	In post #90, Asomotif shows us a rencong with a quadruple crown, like the crowns on siwaih (e.g. posts #64, 74, 92). Has anyone come across other rencong with similar quadruple crowns?

8th November 2016, 12:20 PM	#3
asomotif Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 2,224	Hello loedjoe, Well noted. this rencong is definately a rencong, but has all the other Siwai features. The suasa ferrule and the quadruppel crowns. I cannot recall a similar example. Maybe someone else does ? Best regards, Willem

8th November 2016, 01:35 PM	#4
Loedjoe Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Oxford (UK) Posts: 96	Many thanks, Willem, for your response. Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!) Best wishes, Tim

8th November 2016, 02:46 PM	#5
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,252	Hello Tim, Congrats! I hope we didn't drove up the price too much back then! Your rencong is certainly special with those 4 rows; it's noteworthy that in this siwaih configuration, usually the 2nd row is quite tall and more rounded as if leaning towards a glupa configuration (usually one large row with more or less rounded tips and tiny indentations at both sides of the tip; and another small row of wide triangles at the base) while the uppermost 2 rows are puco style (triangles with acute tips). Most nobility rencong with "crowns" exhibit the puco configuration while a few have glupa (and yours the siwaih "mix" ). If you go back to Erik's pic at the very beginning of this thread, the rencong with the silver hilt (2nd from right) seems to also lean towards a glupa base with a single puco row on top. Incidentally, the rencong on the right hand side has a similar suassa-covered bolster and also this backward-directed duru seuke (base extension of the blade) which I associate with Gayo rather than Aceh. OTOH, the enamel work in your example seems to suggest an Aceh origin though... Regards, Kai

9th November 2016, 09:18 AM	#8
Loedjoe Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Oxford (UK) Posts: 96	Thank you Kai for your interesting comments on crowns - I must look more carefully at examples in future. Not sure whether my example is Aceh with Gayo feature, or Gayo wth Aceh feature! Thank you Maurice for the 'unique' comment - I think the same can be said of your sikin with the suasa crown - very nice indeed.

5th June 2019, 04:21 PM	#9
Loedjoe Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Oxford (UK) Posts: 96	Crowns on Aceh weapons revisited Here is another siwaih - not quite up to the high standard of many of the others shown in this thread. Black wood hilt with highlights of reddish brown (ebony?), black wood sheath with dugong ivory tip and ivory projection. 42 cm, blade 27 cm (9 mm thick at the base), hilt 10.5 cm. A band presumably missing an inch or so below the top of the sheath. Attached Images

13th November 2016, 09:19 AM	#12
Maurice Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,324	Dear Tim, I think people here are overwhelmed by the beautiness of your super high end rencong. That is why there is so little feedback amongst the forumites on this super piece? Anyway, it is by far the most beautiful rencong I have ever seen, and I have seen (and handled) a lot of high end rencongs before! Another great thing is that hippo ivory was very popular in the Gayo- and Alas areas! So besides it looks breathtaking, it is also very interesting because it is unique and cross cultural ( Aceh at the other hand, and Gayo-Alas at the other hand). Kind regards, Maurice