Badek or Badik from Celebes open for discussion

[Ian]

Hi Paul:

I find this a very attractive knife! It appears to have some age, and I would think it is at least first half of the 20th C. The hilt of hippo ivory shows some yellowing with age, and I think the difference in color between the two sides reflects oil from the body of the wearer when the knife was worn thrust through a belt or sash at the waist. Oil on ivory tends to darken and yellow it as it penetrates (along with a little dirt or other contaminants).

The penmanship on the scabbard suggests someone who went to school before 1960 when handwriting was still an art to be practiced with a steel nib dipped in ink. The broader downstrokes and lighter upstrokes (e.g., as seen on the letter "l") reflect someone taught the copperplate style of writing. The loops on some of the other letters are also consistent with the copperplate or similar style of writing that was taught in the British and colonial school systems during the 19th C and first half of the 20th C. The blackness of the ink suggests it was written with "India Ink," a particularly dark and durable ink used for labeling things at that time.

Ian.

[Paul B.]

Thanks Ian for your thoughts and view. Agree, Indian Ink is used for the writing. Wonder if it is related to a Roman language (Spanish or alike).
From underneath I can see the wood used for the gandar so the tip end of grey horn is rather a 'ring' which seems unusual?
The wood used is angsana or sena?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Paul B.

... Wonder if it is related to a Roman language (Spanish or alike).

English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, ... any of the western European languages.