My Sumba collection and some observations

Sajen · 18th August 2017, 11:07 PM

Next piece is a sword where the handle is shaped like a male human and the scabbard mouth like a horse. The Sumba people are great horsemen so it's clear from where this motive coming. So far I know this type of swords are found around Bondokodi but I don't have any evidence for this. The sword is 74 cm long inside scabbard, 67,5 cm without and a little bit over 3 mm thick at the handle. Handle is made from beautiful grained wood and shows a very nice patination.

Sajen · 18th August 2017, 11:25 PM

Next but not last piece is a very classic kabeala like many from you will have seen before and described in Zonneveld on page 59, the blade broadens toward the tip. The handle seems to be worked from the same wood (kemuning?) like the previous example and has a long "ferrule" from horn, by this example not cracked like many times seen. 62 cm long inside scabbard, 58 cm without and 6 mm thick at the base.

Sajen · 18th August 2017, 11:34 PM

Last piece is a kabeala with whale bone handle, clearly a sword for someone of wealth. 65 cm inside scabbard, 62,5 cm without and the blade is also 6 mm thick at the base.

Sajen · 18th August 2017, 11:50 PM

Before I will tell you my observations (maybe you have seen them byself already) I will show you some other swords from Sumba I don't have in my collection (sadly) but I hope that I can add similar examples in future to my collection.

There is a type of kabeala knives and swords similar to the shown example in post #3 but it shows as handle also a male human but the scabbard mouth is shaped like a female human, a clearly sexual symbol, see pictures from a knife which was sold not long ago by ebay. I've seen this type also as sword.

Sajen · 18th August 2017, 11:55 PM

And there is also the rare sword from West Sumba, I've seen only very few from this type, here you can see them byself: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=sumba

Sajen · 19th August 2017, 12:15 AM

And here my observations:
1. all my Sumba blades are not laminated and I can't remember to have seen one with laminated blade. But it seems that the West Sumba swords have laminated blades!

2. all my blades and the most others (exception West Sumba swords) have a cut-out at the edged side of the blade near the handle, it seems to be typical.

3. all scabbards from the examples in my collection have a cut-out at the scabbard mouth on the backside of the handle. Also this seems to be a typical sign for a Sumba sword.

And I can add maybe that the bindings at the scabbards are worked/braided in the same manner.

Sajen · 19th August 2017, 12:18 AM

Here the pictures for my second observation.

18th August 2017, 11:07 PM	#1
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Next piece is a sword where the handle is shaped like a male human and the scabbard mouth like a horse. The Sumba people are great horsemen so it's clear from where this motive coming. So far I know this type of swords are found around Bondokodi but I don't have any evidence for this. The sword is 74 cm long inside scabbard, 67,5 cm without and a little bit over 3 mm thick at the handle. Handle is made from beautiful grained wood and shows a very nice patination. Attached Images Last edited by Sajen; 19th August 2017 at 12:34 AM.

18th August 2017, 11:25 PM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Next but not last piece is a very classic kabeala like many from you will have seen before and described in Zonneveld on page 59, the blade broadens toward the tip. The handle seems to be worked from the same wood (kemuning?) like the previous example and has a long "ferrule" from horn, by this example not cracked like many times seen. 62 cm long inside scabbard, 58 cm without and 6 mm thick at the base. Attached Images Last edited by Sajen; 19th August 2017 at 12:35 AM.

18th August 2017, 11:50 PM	#4
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Before I will tell you my observations (maybe you have seen them byself already) I will show you some other swords from Sumba I don't have in my collection (sadly) but I hope that I can add similar examples in future to my collection. There is a type of kabeala knives and swords similar to the shown example in post #3 but it shows as handle also a male human but the scabbard mouth is shaped like a female human, a clearly sexual symbol, see pictures from a knife which was sold not long ago by ebay. I've seen this type also as sword. Attached Images

18th August 2017, 11:55 PM	#5
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	And there is also the rare sword from West Sumba, I've seen only very few from this type, here you can see them byself: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=sumba Attached Images

19th August 2017, 12:18 AM	#7
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Here the pictures for my second observation. Attached Images

18th August 2017, 11:34 PM	#3
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Last piece is a kabeala with whale bone handle, clearly a sword for someone of wealth. 65 cm inside scabbard, 62,5 cm without and the blade is also 6 mm thick at the base. Attached Images Last edited by Sajen; 19th August 2017 at 02:28 AM.

19th August 2017, 12:15 AM	#6
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	And here my observations: 1. all my Sumba blades are not laminated and I can't remember to have seen one with laminated blade. But it seems that the West Sumba swords have laminated blades! 2. all my blades and the most others (exception West Sumba swords) have a cut-out at the edged side of the blade near the handle, it seems to be typical. 3. all scabbards from the examples in my collection have a cut-out at the scabbard mouth on the backside of the handle. Also this seems to be a typical sign for a Sumba sword. And I can add maybe that the bindings at the scabbards are worked/braided in the same manner.