Sundang and kampilan for comment
 

I just picked these up a couple of weeks ago at an American Civil War show ; you never can tell what you can find at a show .

TWO VERY NICE ITEMS BOTH SHOWING A LOT OF AGE AND USE. THE SUDANG HAS A FEW UNIQUE FEATURES THE INSET IVORY AND THE CARVING ON THE BLADE.
THE KAMPILIAN HAS THE SHORTER WELL CARVED STYLE HANDLE WE HAVE ASSOCIATED WITH EXAMPLES FROM DAYAK PEOPLES AND BORNEO. IT IS A ESPECIALLY NICE ONE NOT NECESSARILY FROM BORNEO AS THE DAYAK RANGED OVER A WIDE AREA AND OFTEN WERE AFFILIATED WITH VARIOUS KINGDOMS AND GROUPS. WHAT IS THE EYE MADE OF A METAL COIN OR JUST WELL CARVED WOOD?
I WISH THEY WERE MINE (COLLECTORS ULTIMATE COMPLEMENT) :D

Interesting pieces! The blade of the sundang shows some interesting chiseling at the forte. The hilt appears to be a later replacement....OR ,perhaps, is a Malay version missing some of its rattan bands, as the pommel style seems to correspond more to Malay styles. The style of the scabbard reminds me of Yakan styles(a possible Borneo link).

The instant I saw the kampillan, like Vandoo, I immediately wondered if it might be from Borneo, with that shorter hilt and extensive carvings. But, did Borneo kampillans also have hand guards??? I am not sure.

At first glance I would not be surprised to find that both these pieces came from Borneo.

I am curious what others have to say about them.

Have you checked the Kris to see if it is a twist core? Looks like a strong possibility.

Thanks for the affirmation guys ; it is always a complement to hear positive reactions from the forum on recent purchases.
The medallion on the handle is carved from wood and I don't believe that the blade is twist core .

Two beautiful pieces! :) The kris has a very unusual blade shape, to bad that the scabbard is in such a bad state.
The mansala at the kampilan can give maybe a hint of the origin of the sword!? :shrug:

Regards,
Detlef

beautiful kris. The kampilan appears to be for a left handed man.

Has anyone picked up on the orientation of the kampy pommel, it is upside down to what is commonly known.

Yes, you are correct! :eek:

Yes the blade upside down as to the norm. Wonder if we could get a shot of the area where the blade enters the hilt have a look at what's holding it in place.

Is the blade loose in the hilt by chance?

The blade is super tight ; no wiggle or looseness at all .I'll negotiate with my photographer (my wife), and hopefully I'll have a picture by tomorrow .

I'd say the break is under the material at the centre of the grip and put back together incorrectly.

Well.... unless I have the rarest Kampillan in the world, the only one with the pommel facing in the opposite direction, I'd have to admit that you are probably on the right track. The blade is straight and true, and can not be removed (I don't think), without destroying the handle,for it is set in very firmly ;if the blade was broken, then I don't think it would have aligned as correctly or logically break at it's strongest point(under the handle). I think the whole blade probably came out, and a collector did a great job of reinserting it, unfortunately backwards.

Not the only one. Not long ago there was a kampilan listed by ebay where the blade also has been upside down. Unfortunately I haven't saved the pictures. :shrug:

Regards,
Detlef

I think both you and Gavin are spot on here. It's a shame, but not the end of the world. A swordsmith could heat the blade, remove and remount it, but I'd carefully consider that decision.

Do you know of any swordsmiths that do this type of work stateside ? If they are anything like the gunsmiths I've encountered, they will have your items for 2 or 3 years and you will have to beg them for your stuff back and pay a king's ransom !
What holds the sword blade in place other than pitch ;I don't think this one is pinned in.I was thinking of taking a dental tool and slowly, over the course of many days, try to remove the pitch from the top of the guard, and loosen the blade.
In the meantime, I'll put it with the rest of my kampillans(yes, I should have known better), with a mental note "lesson learned."

You also can carefully try to heat the blade to loosen it from the handle. For this you can use for example a candle. I have done this with several keris blades to loosen the handles.

Regards,
Detlef

Thanks for the info ; is pitch the only thing that holds the blade in ? If so, it may be worth a try.The other worry I have is that the previous owner didn't use a pitch, but an epoxy.

I don't know if there is anything else which hold the handle at the blade, just try it, nothing worth can happen. Epoxy will also react by heat.

Best,
Detlef

Drac2k,

I have sent you a pm.

Looking at how the blade goes in the handle I think Gavin and Charles are right, it's the pommel that was flipped not the whole hilt. That's why there is that band on the grip. You don't need to take the handle off just get under the band carefully and see what was done. Expect epoxy, if you're lucky maybe just white glue

yours isn't the only one, I got one off ebay some year ago as well with the handle incorrect. Guard was correct but no handle. Fortunately my teacher is a smith and was able to carefully help me "knock" it loose. It seriously looked like they had used modelers cement at one time

A member of the forum was good enough to give me the name of a swordsmith and as such, the blade is on it's way to California ; if this works out, he will be receiving a suitcase of "projects," to work on .

Hi Drac2k

These Kampilans are quite simple in there manufacture.
The grip and pommel is a separate piece of timber from the guard and they are typically pinned with a single pin mid way through the grip.

I'd say the pin perhaps rusted through or was removed/fell out after the rattan binding wore through and was just reassembled incorrectly at the time.

A simple thing to reverse and rebind correctly.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not sure how "simple," the fix would be and I don't possess the skill set for the binding.If the sword were loose, I might have tried , but it is tight as a drum !
I have found that 2 phrases in the English language usually cause me great regret :
"don't worry, it's simple, you can do it," and "don't worry, it won't cost you anything."