Indonesian ? nice / raw Sword

[francantolin]

Hello dear Members,

I wanted to show you this sword, not small, not really long,
27,5 inches long.

I think it's an old indonesian piece but I'm really not sure !

I like the heavy blade and the engraved hilt and the chiselled ferrule ( silver ?).

it seems a high rank quality sword but it contrasts with the scabbard,
really nice and interesting carved wood but a raw ethno piece
contrasting with the sword...

Any idea about this kind of sword ? Age and exact origin ?

Kind regards

[RAMBA]

It is an Acehnese sikin panjang with what looks to be a triple golden crown. Such weapons were produced by the official workshops of the Sultan of Aceh and presented to people of rank or royal lineages.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=sikin+panjang

[kai]

Hello Franc,

This certainly is an interesting grab!

The scabbard needs some TLC. It is a really good example of the more sublime esthetics of northern Sumatra and is commonly seen with high status swords, too. (There also is a status scabbard variant with heavy ivory crosspiece which would be a pain to carry on any campaign though.)

The wood is elastic and protects blades well. However, in dry climates it tends to become brittle and to get damaged; pristine examples are few and far between!

The blade will exhibit laminations (of usually lower contrast) upon etching; usually these are very well forged and hardened.

This nicely carved hilt is of the hulu rumpung style with some old wear to the lower part of the pommel; the light streaks at the pommel are weird and probably later additions (the smaller ones at the base are genuine).

The quadruple(?) crown/calyx is really unusual: The design of the tips is rather flat while the typical gold crowns (especially of the puco type with 3 rows) are very 3-dimensional. While the material typically is gold or suasa (reddish low-carat gold alloy), this seems to be brass (or heavily patinated silver alloy?). The engraving of the 3 upper rows seems to be typical and of genuine craftsmanship. The plain row at the base bugs me a bit since it also does not perfectly connect to the steel bolster. Has the base of the horn hilt been thinned a bit to receive the calyx? If so, the calyx may be later addition (albeit most likely during the working life of this blade).

Regards,
Kai

[francantolin]

Hello,
Really thank's a lot Ramba and Kai for your precious comments
and quick help for nail it !!

Nice surprise about the three ( maybe 4 ? ) crowns calyx ferrule tending to a high rank model ! ( didn't know this symbolic at all, beginners luck ! )

I'll have to try to clean it a little and see
( brass ?. low grade tarnished gold, goldened silver...)
I'll post better pictures soon

Kind regards

[asomotif]

Good evening,

That is indeed an intersting sikin panjang.
There is not much to add to everthing that Kai has mentioned.

If possible, I would like to see pictures of the hilt in a normal upright position and not under an angle. Because as Kai mentions, the connection to the steel bolster is a bit crude. It would be interesting to have better view on that and also on the decorations incised.

These weapons are rather uniform, but still have all kinds of small differences and variations. And the freaks under us, they want to see as much variations as possible.


Best regards,
Willem

[francantolin]

Hello,

I finally get it !

I like the green patinated hilt,
the blade seems an old ( really old ?) one made of flexible steel,
interesting scabbard and sure the crowns,
low grade gold or brass ??
I think four crown is right ( so maybe weird if just made of brass !?! )
but maybe you'll tell me it's ''just'' a 3 plus 1 , a later addition...

What do you think ?