Please help me to identify this mandau

[kai]

Hello David,

The dress here definitely seems to have age and is authentic,

I believe the whole piece is genuine with only the hornbill feather (and orange slip) being added later.

but i don't know what to say about this blade. If it is an old original blade someone certainly did a number on it and destroyed it for all intents and purposes. It does show signs of having been altered after production. I also note that this does not have the familiar concave/convex blade construction that is an important part of mandau blade design.

We need a pic of the right side of the blade to verify. However, the blade seems to me being of concave/convex construction.

I'd be inclined to believe that this blade originally came with the hilt. It just got mutilated in modern times by a heavy acid etch, some additional cuts into the back and tip, and another round of acid to remove signs of manipulation and staining the blade.

Not much that can be done at this point except than replacing the mutilated blade with a well-fitting antique blade; not easy to obtain any mandau blade of suitable style and with correct dimensions though. As long as you manage keeping it in the scabbard, the current blade may do, indeed.

Regards,
Kai