Identification needed - Borneo ?

erikscollectables · 18th July 2009, 10:06 PM

This is a strange dagger. No idea what it is.
The cross piece looks european to me.
Handle is bone.
The blade is what made me think of Borneo.
Shaped like a mandau and with inlay that somewhat resembles mandau pieces I believe.

Inlay - two star forms at the top inlaid with copper.
One star at the bottem where the copper fell out.
Another star (?) towards the end.

Any input on what this might be is welcome!

Regards, Erik

kai · 19th July 2009, 12:41 AM

Hello Erik,

Sorry, I also don't know where this may come from.

I'm fairly sure this isn't a traditional SE Asian design though - even if it may have some age.

Any signs for a reattached hilt? (That pommel looks upside down to me.)

Regards,
Kai

asomotif · 19th July 2009, 12:59 AM

Hello Erik,

The inlayed stars could indicate Borneo origin of the blade.

Is the blade concave / convex as a mandau ?

The handle is bone ? Not stag ?
That seems quite unusual if you think of Borneo.

erikscollectables · 19th July 2009, 08:41 AM

I was thinking the same about the hilt. But there are no signs of it being re attached. I think all pieces of the dagger are really quite old - more than a century old at least. It might be european for all I know...

Erik

Quote:

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Erik,

Sorry, I also don't know where this may come from.

I'm fairly sure this isn't a traditional SE Asian design though - even if it may have some age.

Any signs for a reattached hilt? (That pommel looks upside down to me.)

Regards,
Kai

erikscollectables · 19th July 2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asomotif

Hello Erik,

The inlayed stars could indicate Borneo origin of the blade.

Is the blade concave / convex as a mandau ?

The handle is bone ? Not stag ?
That seems quite unusual if you think of Borneo.

The handle might be stag I am not sure how to tell.
The blade I had not looked to be honest but now I see one side of the blade is flat where the other side is convex and maybe also a bit concave but it is only 20 cm so not a big blade like a mandau...

Regards, Erik

VVV · 19th July 2009, 12:56 PM

This is a tricky old blade to figure out.
It doesn´t look like a Borneo composition to me and it could be a broken Visayan swordblade that was remade to a knife?
The "stars" could, except Borneo, also be southern Philippines?
For sure the position of the "star" closest to the hilt isn´t where you would usually find it on a mandau blade.

Michael

Mytribalworld · 19th July 2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VVV

This is a tricky old blade to figure out.
It doesn´t look like a Borneo composition to me and it could be a broken Visayan swordblade that was remade to a knife?
The "stars" could, except Borneo, also be southern Philippines?
For sure the position of the "star" closest to the hilt isn´t where you would usually find it on a mandau blade.

Michael

Agree with Michael,The stars are to small for a mandau , I vote for the end of a kampilanblade and the whole set up could be a philippine knife.

Arjan

erikscollectables · 21st July 2009, 06:44 PM

Thanks guys!

This is totally out of my field so thanks for the input!

Regards, Erik

Tim Simmons · 21st July 2009, 09:20 PM

What is happening where I have marked? What do these copper inserts look like on the back of the blade? Is this a modified blade? I hate saying that kind of thing but this does look to me, some kind of Indonesian or Borneo product. It could be Indochina? I do believe freddy post a knife with very similar handle amd blade some years ago.

Freddy · 22nd July 2009, 11:28 AM

Tim. Do you mean this knife ? With 'chicken bone handle ' ?

18th July 2009, 10:06 PM	#1
erikscollectables Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 318	Identification needed - Borneo ? This is a strange dagger. No idea what it is. The cross piece looks european to me. Handle is bone. The blade is what made me think of Borneo. Shaped like a mandau and with inlay that somewhat resembles mandau pieces I believe. Inlay - two star forms at the top inlaid with copper. One star at the bottem where the copper fell out. Another star (?) towards the end. Any input on what this might be is welcome! Regards, Erik Attached Images

21st July 2009, 09:20 PM	#9
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,807	What is happening where I have marked? What do these copper inserts look like on the back of the blade? Is this a modified blade? I hate saying that kind of thing but this does look to me, some kind of Indonesian or Borneo product. It could be Indochina? I do believe freddy post a knife with very similar handle amd blade some years ago. Attached Images

19th July 2009, 12:41 AM	#2
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,254	Hello Erik, Sorry, I also don't know where this may come from. I'm fairly sure this isn't a traditional SE Asian design though - even if it may have some age. Any signs for a reattached hilt? (That pommel looks upside down to me.) Regards, Kai

19th July 2009, 12:59 AM	#3
asomotif Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 2,225	Hello Erik, The inlayed stars could indicate Borneo origin of the blade. Is the blade concave / convex as a mandau ? The handle is bone ? Not stag ? That seems quite unusual if you think of Borneo.

19th July 2009, 12:56 PM	#6
VVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,637	This is a tricky old blade to figure out. It doesn´t look like a Borneo composition to me and it could be a broken Visayan swordblade that was remade to a knife? The "stars" could, except Borneo, also be southern Philippines? For sure the position of the "star" closest to the hilt isn´t where you would usually find it on a mandau blade. Michael

21st July 2009, 06:44 PM	#8
erikscollectables Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 318	Thanks guys! This is totally out of my field so thanks for the input! Regards, Erik

22nd July 2009, 11:28 AM	#10
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	Tim. Do you mean this knife ? With 'chicken bone handle ' ?