SE Asian (?) one sided sheaths

tom hyle · 23rd April 2005, 03:47 PM

Many scabbards are made out of two hollowed shells of wood bound together. But in SE Asia (elsewhere, too?) we encounter a different concept as well. The most obvious are the open-sided sheaths, and I think they may fit in here somewhere, but they're not what I'm writing about. I'm writing about sheaths with one hollowed shell, and the other side (always, AFAIK, the back) a flat board. This is common with the chisel ground blades of the Visayan Sea, though it is also common for them to come in "ordinary" two-shell sheaths. It seems related to having a long tail beyond the blade cavity on one (front) side only. It, or its features, are sometimes seen on centrally bevelled swords, as with my mysterious t-pommelled sword, whose sheath seems (can't really see the wood at the throat though) to be centrally hollowed (?) but has a long pronounced one-sided tail. Another example is my recently acquired matulis-hilted scramasax; wedge-section blade in a sheath that is basically hollowed on one side only (some on the other, perhaps for fine fitting, as I have had to do under similar circumstances; but only about 10% to the back; 90% to the front.). Thoughts? Examples? Questions? Answers?

23rd April 2005, 03:47 PM	#1
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	SE Asian (?) one sided sheaths Many scabbards are made out of two hollowed shells of wood bound together. But in SE Asia (elsewhere, too?) we encounter a different concept as well. The most obvious are the open-sided sheaths, and I think they may fit in here somewhere, but they're not what I'm writing about. I'm writing about sheaths with one hollowed shell, and the other side (always, AFAIK, the back) a flat board. This is common with the chisel ground blades of the Visayan Sea, though it is also common for them to come in "ordinary" two-shell sheaths. It seems related to having a long tail beyond the blade cavity on one (front) side only. It, or its features, are sometimes seen on centrally bevelled swords, as with my mysterious t-pommelled sword, whose sheath seems (can't really see the wood at the throat though) to be centrally hollowed (?) but has a long pronounced one-sided tail. Another example is my recently acquired matulis-hilted scramasax; wedge-section blade in a sheath that is basically hollowed on one side only (some on the other, perhaps for fine fitting, as I have had to do under similar circumstances; but only about 10% to the back; 90% to the front.). Thoughts? Examples? Questions? Answers?