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Originally Posted by Battara
Here are some blade pictures that I did not alter except to resize for posting.
Some of the notches on the blade edge are "V" shaped, indicating edge blade to edge blade contact, even though this is a ceremonial weapon.
Note: I did not etch the blade at all.
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Nice daab Battara. That is interesting to see the nicks in the blade. Some of the nicks are more "V" like and others more broad "U" shape...I wonder if that says something about the hardness of type of material it came into contact with or angle of percussion. One time I remember a weapons restorator commenting on a piece of mine that had several "V" nicks in it that this most likely meant the heat treatment was not good and that a properly tempered blade should have more "U" shaped nicks. Yours you can see the temper line...but looking at how the spine is finished towards the tip it makes me think this is a later 19th century made.
The carved motif I've seen before several time..it's like a Monkey tower :P I don't know if I think of them as Nats, as those are usually human spirits? But the monkey army from the Indian epic, Ramayama which spread in popularity through SEA, Buddhist and Hindu regions of present day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Burma, including former Hindu regions like Indonesia and Malaysia. It's a symbol of strength and protection. The most well known monkey from the epic people maybe familiar with is Hanuman.