Borneo parang naibur--a mix of old and new

[asomotif]

Hello Ian,

I am wondering, from where did you buy this parang ?

Regardless of the age guesses we can make, it looks like a blade that has faced long extensive use.
Also the scabbard looks very used. lot of patina.
The original carrying strap has surely been replaced by simple rope because someone was in need to carry this parang.

The blade has decorations on the back. are these brass inlays ?

I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade


Maybe you can give it a gentle cleaning trying to give more life to the decorations

I like this parang, regardless the age.
It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

Best regards,
Willem

[kai]

Hello Willem,

Thanks for chiming in!

Regardless of the age guesses we can make, it looks like a blade that has faced long extensive use.

I'd guess that this piece remained in Borneo for a longer period; as usual, the blade may be older than the fittings, too.

Also the scabbard looks very used. lot of patina.

Not so sure this is really old patina. Losses to the paint and definitely some genuine wear - it does not look antique to me though.

I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade

I don't think the cleaning is needed to convince others: The blade does seem to have some quality (e. g. the fuller) while the craftsmanship in shaping it (e. g. the curls at the base) is less convincing and certainly not "old-style"...

AFAIK, Dayak blades were generally kept in polish. Thus, one could argue that heavily patinated blades are non-traditional and just badly maintained!
Thus, I believe that gentle cleaning could help long-term maintenance as well as allow for a explorative fact-finding mission.

It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

While the jimpul is a rather late development of the Iban culture, I don't think that there is any notable number of early collected examples in musea which haven't been used in the originating culture.

Regards,
Kai

[Ian]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Hello Ian,

I am wondering, from where did you buy this parang ? ...

The blade has decorations on the back. are these brass inlays ?

Thank you for the comments Willem.

To answer your questions. I purchased this online (eBay) in 2005 from a seller in Malaysia. I don't recall the seller's name now, but at the time he was selling quite a few items from Borneo.

The decorations on the back are shallow brass inlays. Some of these are obscured a little by oxidation of the blade, but I think they would clean up a bit. Is there any significance, do you think, in the groupings of these inlays?

... I think that cleaning the blade will give us a better idea of the quality.
However, personally I am not very much in favour of cleaning such a blade with the main purpose to convince others of the age or quality of the blade


Maybe you can give it a gentle cleaning trying to give more life to the decorations

I'm in the process of moving from the U.S. to Australia so it will be a little while before I can get to cleaning the blade. I will take your suggestion, however, and clean some of the oxidation off and see whether the decorations can be better displayed.

... I like this parang, regardless the age.
It has a history in Borneo, maybe much more fun to own than a jimpul with history in a museum

I agree that this blade has seen some use and that the sword was carried (despite the recent additions). In particular, the tip of the blade is rounded from use and resharpening. I like it because it has "character." Obviously it has been used a lot within the culture, and its imperfections add to its charm. I am not enthused by the addition of materials from what I now know is an endangered species, and I'm inclined to remove them.

[Dajak]

The real good mandau are mostly found in good condition because quality
of steel was very good and the most early taken from Borneo, the special mandau s sometimes hidden and taken 1 - 2 a year for an headhunting party...not al the mandau s are used for headhunting......
Some just like an everyday parang.

The best for dating mandau s go to the museums get in the depot and look when they get the weapon coming in and collecting time former owner.
These pics from the volkenkunde museum in Nijmegen wich one don t exist anymore.

Ben

[Maurice]

Ian, how thick is the spine at the base of the blade?

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Maurice

Ian, how thick is the spine at the base of the blade?

Kind regards,
Maurice

Hi Maurice,

As noted above: "The blade is well forged and straight, with a thickness of 7.5 mm just in front of the hilt and tapering smoothly to 3.0 mm where the spine turns down towards the cutting edge and the blade has a maximum width of 4.5 cm."

Ian.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Ian

Hi Maurice,

As noted above: "The blade is well forged and straight, with a thickness of 7.5 mm just in front of the hilt and tapering smoothly to 3.0 mm where the spine turns down towards the cutting edge and the blade has a maximum width of 4.5 cm."

Ian.

Hi Ian, sorry, I looked over it.

I added some photos of a similar blade of the same area, only for sure a 19th century one. Hopefully you will see the craftmanship compared with your blade.
The thickness of this blade is 10cm at the base, and the length of the blade is 53 cm (20.9 inches).

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Ian]

Hi Maurice,

Thanks for your detailed comments and the pictures of your 19th C example. The blade on your sword is certainly thicker at the hilt and the file work is more impressive.

Could you post a picture of the hilt also please.

Ian.