Help with ID and authentication of a Mandau?

tom hyle · 4th March 2005, 04:27 PM

Looks like a mandau/parang ilang to me. The wood handle is not terribly unusual. The blade is not exactly what we usually see in N America, but is certainly of the general type, while the back side being actually hollowed rather than flat or slightly humped is something I've seen primarily if not only (searching memory....) out of Japan and Borneo. There is a more or less "typical" type of mandau we see over here, or two, really, if you count the "typical" Dyakk jimpul we sometimes also see, but IMHO this has more to do with what appeared in some book/what N Americans are looking for/percieved as looking for, because in reality I've seen a great profusion of native blades on mandau type mounts; chisel bevelled ones, centrally bevelled ones; straight ones, curved ones; swell-tipped, parallel-sided, or even tapered; clipped, truncated, squared, or back-swept tips; piercings filled and open, and okar of every type, including flamboyant split off and welded on extensions at the tip, along the sping, or at the ricassoe/shaft, or some that are completely plain. They do usually have an unsharp ricassoe/shaft; on the new forum I can't look at yours as I actually write.... Handles of wood, antler, or ivory. ferules and grip areas of pitch, cord, rattan-skin, sometimes bare handle material, and occasionally metal. I don't know what of these variations are regional, time related, tribal, economic, or what. The particularly wide tipped curved blade on yours is similar to newish ones I've seen, but that's far from conclusive, of course.
The twisted tang is intereting. I haven't seen a lot of mandau tangs, but those I have were more like those on other oceanic SE Asian cutting swords. This tang is similar, but then twisted like a k(e)ris or mata tombak tang......interesting, and it makes a strange geometric effect, what with being wider than thick, then twisted, so at the rear it's thicker than at the shoulders, yes?

4th March 2005, 04:27 PM	#2
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Looks like a mandau/parang ilang to me. The wood handle is not terribly unusual. The blade is not exactly what we usually see in N America, but is certainly of the general type, while the back side being actually hollowed rather than flat or slightly humped is something I've seen primarily if not only (searching memory....) out of Japan and Borneo. There is a more or less "typical" type of mandau we see over here, or two, really, if you count the "typical" Dyakk jimpul we sometimes also see, but IMHO this has more to do with what appeared in some book/what N Americans are looking for/percieved as looking for, because in reality I've seen a great profusion of native blades on mandau type mounts; chisel bevelled ones, centrally bevelled ones; straight ones, curved ones; swell-tipped, parallel-sided, or even tapered; clipped, truncated, squared, or back-swept tips; piercings filled and open, and okar of every type, including flamboyant split off and welded on extensions at the tip, along the sping, or at the ricassoe/shaft, or some that are completely plain. They do usually have an unsharp ricassoe/shaft; on the new forum I can't look at yours as I actually write.... Handles of wood, antler, or ivory. ferules and grip areas of pitch, cord, rattan-skin, sometimes bare handle material, and occasionally metal. I don't know what of these variations are regional, time related, tribal, economic, or what. The particularly wide tipped curved blade on yours is similar to newish ones I've seen, but that's far from conclusive, of course. The twisted tang is intereting. I haven't seen a lot of mandau tangs, but those I have were more like those on other oceanic SE Asian cutting swords. This tang is similar, but then twisted like a k(e)ris or mata tombak tang......interesting, and it makes a strange geometric effect, what with being wider than thick, then twisted, so at the rear it's thicker than at the shoulders, yes? Last edited by tom hyle; 4th March 2005 at 04:38 PM.