Sumatran Sewar?

[kai]

Hello David,

I have also found the name Tumbuk Lada associated with these blades. Certain presents a whole lot of play for the name game. I would imagine that each culture group that uses these has a different name for them.

True enough - I was trying to avoid discussing that...

As Alan noted, the other names are just variants of the same name. I can't really judge how much this may be based on actual differences in pronounciation due to local dialects/languages (their usage by colonial linguists conversant in several branches of the Malay language family may indicate so).

While the typical blade of these daggers (single edged blade curving down towards the tip; strong integral bolster; at the base with usually a short, engraved line which I hesitate to term fuller since it seems to be done pretty sloppily) is widely distributed, the fittings do exhibit a lot of local styles. Yet the shared name seems to indicate that these were regarded as basically equivalent daggers with pretty much only the blade as common denominator. I haven't looked into the entymological origin of the Malay word sewah yet.

On the other hand, the Malay concept of tumbok lada [pepper crusher/grinder] seems to be based on the hilt whose shape could be likened to a tool. In AvZ only the single example with carved horn hilt qualifies as a piece from the coastal Malay community on both sides of the Malacca Strait. The other 4 are Karo status pieces and these apparently got never referred to as tumbok lada by any highland group (possibly short of Scots, that is... ). Both types exhibit similar (broader and more straight) blades (often with fullers). Despite these blades not being identical, the collectors' approach has been to lump these broader blades with stubby hilts as tumbok lada; and to refer to any with dowwncurving blades (and usually short engraved line) as Sewah. This notion may be supported by the status siwaih from Aceh which also exhibit very bulky hilts (more so than many Malay tumbok lada) and still not referred to as tumbok lada in Aceh. I wouldn't be surprised though if somewhat intermediate pieces like yours would have been referred to as tumbok lada by the Straits Malay - or possibly as sewah the other day or in the next village...

Regards,
Kai