Hi Ian,
Your sword looks like a semarang from Halmahera, compare it with my semarangs. It has some unusual features, the blade decoration as well the guard. It could be that it is a pure dance sword for a boy due to its small size, my smallest is 64 cm long. Also unusual is the handle material, it looks like horn!? And yes, when it is indeed a semarang the handle should be an interpretation of makara.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=halmahera &
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=halmahera
Regards,
Detlef