Ceremonial Spear? Dayak? Batak? or ?____?

[Ian]

I agree with the comments above. I have two "Mandau" of poor construction that have similar decorations. I was told that they were made in Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea).

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

I was told that they were made in Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea).

I don't know if this is correct, I think that this is a myth.

[bellejoie]

Thanks to milandro, naturalist, Sajen, Tim, Ian!
C’est gentil – most kind!
If others have thoughts, we welcome learning from expertise of members in this forum.
We are grateful and appreciate knowing the truth about this artistic spear.
If it was actually a genuine ethnic creation, our goal would be to protect its cultural heritage (especially if it had some inherent spiritual or meaningful belief importance).
Therefore, it is also important to know what it is not—to avoid false claims or misrepresentations that would do a disservice to any native culture.
Our goal has been to find a suitable disposition of our possessions as part of planning for estate succession. So, this helps to know it’s merely attractive craftmanship. We’ll aim to ensure it’s admired simply for decoration.