Indonesian, English or the other way around?
 

I have had this Indonesian knife for a long time and often wondered about the origin of the hilt.
Found this Bowie on the net and I think the question of origin is answered.
What do you think? Copied or " borrowed "
Roy

The title should say "way" not " war"

I would tend to go for the Borrowed. The Sheffield 'Cutlery' Rococo, pistol handled Bowies were popular in the US during the 19th C. Some were silver and some plated. Similar handles are seen on antique meat carving cutlery sets.

Hello Roy,

The knife itself is a peurawot from Aceh I guess, see here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=aceh. English bread handles sometimes seen on knives from mainland SEA, it's the first time I saw an English handle with an Indonesian blade. :eek:

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Detlef & Mel,

I agree that the hilt is most certainly borrowed. The British had a strong presence, especially on Sumatra, and kept trading even after the Dutch took over again (but still had not taken over all of Sumatra until into the 20th century).

However, this is not from greater Aceh and, thus, not a peurawot. Typical peurawot have a classic blade shape while there are also some examples exhibiting deviating blade shapes like the one shown by Detlef.

This scabbard is different despite some similarities in carving at the mouth. Details are not Aceh style though.

This blade is a rawit. If this ensemble got not assembled by one of the Batak groups, the blade might as well had travelled to one of the coastal communities and trading ports and possibly got adapted locally. Just brainstorming though.

Closeups of the carving might help to place it (please include both sides and a top view, Roy).

Regards,
Kai

Is it possible that the style of the carving on the scabbard is influenced by the swirling decoration on the pommel? There does seem to be some resemblance. As Kai remarks, British goods were everywhere in the 19th C.

Hello Mel,

This kind of carving of a protrusion at the scabbard mouth is traditional and fairly widespread in the greater Straits region - with more or less local differences in the details.

I'd posit that it rather was the other way round: The hilt got selected because it was thought to be a nice (and possibly exotic) match with the local style/taste. Kinda ironic that it found its way back to GB.

Of course, the possibility can't be excluded that a broken/missing hilt got replaced by a creative Englishman with access to local spare parts. The hilt does look very well worn though.

Regards,
Kai