Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons
FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 8th February 2013, 01:36 PM   #1
Moshah
Member
 
Moshah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 171
Default a Sewar cross-dressing as a Badik?

Hi again gentlemen...

Presented here was an unconfirmed, but could be quite an interesting case. Was this piece really a badik, or it is actually a sewar?

I found out that the spine of the blade (4th pix) was rather thick, something quite unusual for a badik, IMHO. I might be wrong, but that is how i feel about it.

Honest opinions are most welcomed. Hope we can learn much more with each other again
Attached Images
      
Moshah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 04:59 PM   #2
Sajen
Member
 
Sajen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,786
Default

Clearly sewar!
Sajen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 05:20 PM   #3
David
Keris forum moderator
 
David's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,126
Default

That was my thought as well. Who implied that this might be a Badik to you?
David is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 05:28 PM   #4
Moshah
Member
 
Moshah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 171
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by David
That was my thought as well. Who implied that this might be a Badik to you?
The dress it comes with...

Still, with this cross-dressing, is this a good, average joe kinda sewar?

Pardon my knowledge, but is there anything clearer than the thick spine, to differentiate a sewar and a badik?
Attached Images
 
Moshah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 06:19 PM   #5
David
Keris forum moderator
 
David's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,126
Default

Both Badiks and Sewars come in a range of sheath styles. I see nothing in this sheath which would lead me to call this a cross-dressed sewar. The blade and hilt seem to clearly ID this as a sewar.
David is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 07:23 PM   #6
Sajen
Member
 
Sajen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,786
Default

Hello Moshah, could be a Malay sewar IMHO. Will post pictures of my sewar collection and as well from my badik collection that you can see the differents.

Regards,

Detlef
Sajen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th February 2013, 08:04 PM   #7
Moshah
Member
 
Moshah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 171
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Both Badiks and Sewars come in a range of sheath styles. I see nothing in this sheath which would lead me to call this a cross-dressed sewar. The blade and hilt seem to clearly ID this as a sewar.

I was told that the sheath was not original to the blade. And usually for this kind of sheath it was supposed to be for badik. It could be my misunderstanding, and it could also be that the classification of badik over here in W Malaysia would slightly differs from its other neighboring cultures.

Since David has mentioned about the broader range of sheath styles, I think we can already conclude it is a sewar all right. However, this is what I initially thought on how a sewar's sheath would be...
Attached Images
 
Moshah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th February 2013, 01:17 AM   #8
kai
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,254
Default

Hello Moshah,

Quote:
Pardon my knowledge, but is there anything clearer than the thick spine, to differentiate a sewar and a badik?
IMHO the thick integral bolster is a prominent but not sufficient requirement for something being a sewar/sewaih.

Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.

The fittings (including the hilt) look newly crafted to me and may well be Malay "repair" attempts.

Regards,
Kai
kai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th February 2013, 12:27 PM   #9
Sajen
Member
 
Sajen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,786
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.
Agree, I also would repolishing the blade, it will look much better after this.
Sajen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th February 2013, 12:43 PM   #10
Sajen
Member
 
Sajen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,786
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.
Agree, I also would repolishing the blade, it will look much better after this.
Sajen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th February 2013, 02:40 PM   #11
Moshah
Member
 
Moshah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 171
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Your blade does seem to be a genuine antique sewar. To be frank, the heavy pitting seems to be from excessive etching (and/or neglect). If it were not looking like a pretty much lost case, I would think about reworking/repolishing/staining the blade. I don't think this is feasible with this piece though.

The fittings (including the hilt) look newly crafted to me and may well be Malay "repair" attempts.

Regards,
Kai
Dear Kai,

Now I think I've got it right already.

Looking at it, definitely the edge was heavily corroded. To commissioned a reworking is a futile effort, I afraid, as the sewar's edge would be taken away too much from its original body, and that would not proportioned with the thick spine.

The hilt, FYI, was a white akar bahar. And I am also in the thinking that it is new and I believe you are right.

But then again I would like to ask, is the polished form (the clean, steel looks) is really a desirable state on any sewar? I've seen numerous examples on the net was in that state...
Moshah is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.