Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons

 
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old Today, 08:33 AM   #1
Ian
Vikingsword Staff
 
Ian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,530
Default Small Indonesian klewang (?)

I'm interested to hear what our Indonesian experts think of this one and where it may be from. The blade has a shape reminiscent of a Moro kampilan, but much shorter. The back half of the blade adjacent to the spine on each side has repeating rows of semicircles containing "o" marks that look a little like eyes--perhaps "eyebrows and eyes" might be an adequate description for the basic motif. The bottom part of the blade on each side is smooth and has a dark patina. The width of the spine at the guard is approximately 5 mm, tapering to 2 mm before turning down to meet the tip.

The guard is made of a supple leather disk with a "milled" edge. The hilt itself has a short grip, only 5 cm on the underside to accommodate the fingers (not nearly big enough for my large, 9.5 cm-wide American palm). Perhaps the sword was intended for a woman or a child. The hilt would be unusually small for an adult male.

I'm unsure what to call the pommel (hulu). Perhaps it is an abstract makara but I'll leave that to others to identify what it may represent.

OAL = 59 cm (23.25 in.)
Blade = 47 cm (18.5 in.)
Hilt = 12.7 cm (5 in.)
.
Attached Images
      

Last edited by Ian; Today at 11:11 AM. Reason: Spellig
Ian is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:21 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.