Is this an authentic Formosan Paiwan sword?

[milandro]

Thanks Kronckew, indeed this is very similar to mine and the one above.

I am rather positive they may be from the same hand. Many are dismissive of such pieces ad being for the tourists while, I believe, they are simply contemporarily made but that doesn't take anything away from they intrinsic qualities as a weapon or tool. They are well made and sharp and perfectly functional.

I am still not clear auto how this is attached to a belt though if , as you say, this is a toggle button, the entire weight of the sword (granted not much) would be supported by the rather flimsy piece of string (double though it is in my sword) and I can imagine that that would be a lot of stress for the string)


I decided that I can remove the ad and show the piece

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by milandro

Thanks Kronckew, indeed this is very similar to mine and the one above.

I am rather positive they may be from the same hand. Many are dismissive of such pieces ad being for the tourists while, I believe, they are simply contemporarily made but that doesn't take anything away from they intrinsic qualities as a weapon or tool. They are well made and sharp and perfectly functional.

I am still not clear auto how this is attached to a belt though.

I'm adding my curved lalaw style one below. It just has a loop you can put a belt thru that I added. The only pics I can find seem to imply the straight ones just had a loop that you could slip a belt thru, or a cord/strap thru the holes with 2 'tails' that could be tied as a belt. Some, like the lalaw, had a baldric, I'd make a baldric, one end with a loop for the toggle to be 'buttoned thru, the other decoratively wrapped around the scabbard below it. Or dispense with the toggle and just use a loop for the belt.

[milandro]

cheers! Thanks for the pictures. I found another two of the curved variety for sale in the NL (and one side open with metal clamps), most people, including myself, first think of these as African rather then Taiwanese.

[Sajen]

Please keep in mind that all shown here examples are made for those who travel!

[milandro]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Please keep in mind that all here shown examples are made for those who travel!

true, nevertheless, in my experience the blade quality of tourist implements is normally not as good as this.

This blades are made of good steel, they are hardened , have a half diamond chisel grind, profile

Dave Atkinson finds them worthy of being in his collection and so do, apparently, SOME others., if tit is good for him, it is good for me too


http://atkinson-swords.com/collectio.../paiwan-sword/



this is a YouTube video (there is no way for me to load this video on the forum, I think)



It shows how they make these " tourist" blades. I don't see what's wrong with them. This is a curved Atayal, the Tjakit would also be equally made.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQnLfPJ1h4g

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by milandro

Dave Atkinson finds them worthy of being in his collection and so do, apparently, SOME others., if tit is good for him, it is good for me too

To each his own!

I have owned some real antique ones and handled a few tourist ones, a great difference.

Originally Posted by milandro

this is a YouTube video (there is no way for me to load this video on the forum, I think)



It shows how they make these " tourist" blades. I don't see what's wrong with them. This is a curved Atayal, the Tjakit would also be equally made.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQnLfPJ1h4g

I doubt that the blades in this video are for the tourist swords, sorry.

[milandro]

the final result looks very similar to the examples above.

[Bob A]

Originally Posted by Sajen

To each his own!

I have owned some real antique ones and handled a few tourist ones, a great difference.

For many collectors, Mojo makes the difference.

It's a tenet of sympathetic magic: things once in contact remain in contact, in an ineffable way. (Quantum mechanics has something to say about that as well).

If "magic" doesn't provide sufficient impetus to push a price point, there's always "provenance".

(I don't mean to dispute the realities of actual construction, BTW).

[Ian]

Originally Posted by milandro

... I believe, they are simply contemporarily made but that doesn't take anything away from they intrinsic qualities as a weapon or tool. They are well made and sharp and perfectly functional. ...

milandro, I think you have raised a good point about functionality. My experience with most of these contemporary Taiwanese pieces is that the blades are very poor and unsharpened. They probably would not retain an edge if they were sharpened. Such poorly made items are delegated appropriately, I think, as souvenirs for tourists. The (very) few that were of similar style and had decent blades with hardened edges may well be contemporary functioning pieces. What we see on eBay and other online sites are almost always of poor quality in my experience. I bought several when they first showed up online maybe 20+ years ago, just to see what they were like, and they all had junk blades that appeared to have been made by stock reduction rather than forged.

[milandro]

cheers, as shown above in my and other cases ( at the very least for the 3 tjakit ^ ) I can witness the blade is of a very good forged quality. I will take it with me when tomorrow I will go to see a master blade smith local to me, I am going there to ask for advise on another matter but I will also ask what he thinks of the blade of my Tjakit.