New Acquisition, Mandau, said to be 1800's

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Joe,

May I ask if the blade has a concave/convex profile?

Regards,
Detlef

As to Detlef's question here, some might argue, but from my understanding a mandau has a convex/concave blade. This blade does not. So for my money this is not really a mandau. While it does have some age, i don't think i would place it much older than early 20th century. It's hard to say more about the blade with a good cleaning to remove all that dirt and rust. This could be a European blade that was adapted. It has some odd features i have not seen on this type of sword before.
What i can say without a doubt is that there is no way this is a VOC blade. Cleaning the blade might help reveal what is actually stamped into the steel, but i seriously doubt it is VOC.