collections thread- mandau

Cool! Flat top haircut on a mandau:thumbup: That must have belonged to tribal elder, leader, or somebody important?
 
as bad as I paid for the other one, this was a true steal, cannot believe what I managed to win this for-- it is a fine mandau, with silver inlay ,the dots are even in the star shape which is another step up, fine workmanship, a real example probably 19th century, I will know better when I get it and talk to a few people.

the grip theme is vine and hornbill.








 
Wouldnt ya like to know the story behind the beadwork and hair tufts? Hmmm? Maybe not? Thats a nicely wrapped sheath and very unique with that finger sticking out.
 
Wow! Another incredible addition to the collection. You are going to have to finish up that display for them soon or risk them getting agitated from over crowding.

But yeah, I can see why you would not want to pass up that one. Great find.
 
pretty sure this will be the last one for a pretty long time, I have payments on a few sets that I secured, so I will be toothless in both antiques and HI for a time, I look forward to having cash again!!!!--( but that will not be for some time with what I have done to myself lol, I really love mandau, but I am just turned inside out by the spending I did this month , probably going to cool it until after I finish a few things, try to be a little less OCD about collecting :D))

@ndog that is almost certainly human hair the one black lock at the top that clumps together, the wiry hair that is dyed is goat, it and monkey hair are much more coarse than human, with goat being the most common hair used in the red, white and black checkering.


the beads are the base of a bead belt that has long since been torn away by dry rot or accident, a complete mandau usually has a bead belt around its rattan belt, a colorful decoration showing similar themes to the scabbard and blade--- I have never owned a mandau with a complete bead belt, but here is a picture of one.


just the belt and charms

 
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So the belt is "poked" through where the pisau raut used to be. Im assuming its missing. Thats an amazing amount of work. Must have been in "peacetime" or a lul in headlopping?
 
I am pretty sure that the time spent on the mandau was because they were ritual , war and practical tools; I am going to purchase a book on the dayak animist faith pretty soon, so I will know more about the why of the arts, but mostly I think it was a way of devoting time and energy to ancestors and other intercessor spirits. They believed that life was war, that the world was created from blood being shed by the gods, very similar to aztecs in that aspect.
 


just picked this up from the antique store for one of my fine mandau, I hope it fits!, otherwise it is a great example of a true pisau





really beautiful piece and notice how large the blade is

also wanted to share this, even though it is not done, has been worked on for a bit now, is a job that I commissioned forumite JWBensinger for , and is almost done-- I could not be happier with it, or more excited to get it :D






the thickness of the spine and wide blade give me shivers, this is a work of art. hats off to you sir
this is a 17 inch dha designed by JWB with my help ( he drew it and I was like wow that is cool)-- bound in sterling silver and ash wood I think , with wax chord and meant to be one of a pair
the 27 inch version of this pair will probably not be done for a few months, but I could not keep to myself anymore ! I am beyond proud to own this, and think it is fit to sit with any of my antiques.
 
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That is sweet! You mean 17" blade right? AOL looks more than that? Nice work.
Nice pisau! Good find!
 
This thread is giving me the willies, beautiful blades all around. All I seem to find for non-axes in my local antique shops are over priced bayonets and paikstani fantasticrap.
 
yeah I do think I mean a 17 inch blade, its still pretty short over all, but I think it strikes a nice balance, the 27 inch should look a bit more like a full sword ( because it is 27 inches of blade for sure , I think 36 OAL

they are based on the antique husin style dha that I have, with some other decorative elements, but that is why the super long grip and no pointy tip-- the long grip though is more from dha in thailand , the no tip is from dha in the kachin region, sometimes called husin style from my understanding -- though the set ended up being more like a samurai set because the first one was made just to check the patterning on the weld, originally I just ordered the 27 inch blade one, but had to have this one as well after I saw it.

also darth the guys I picked up my pisau from have a great selection and fair pricing, also accept payments, viking ethnographic sword forums has a list of reputable antiques dealers as well, that focus on these sorts of things ( weapons)-- also erik farrow from CA is a great antiques dealer, just search farrow fine art-- also it giving me the willies is exactly why I started collecting this stuff so much, I just love the history and the art behind many of the head hunters in south east asia, from the naga and kachin to the dayak

though I did get lots of my nice dha from the auction site, I got just as many from actual antiques dealers , and they are a bit more dependable than auctions imo.
 
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36 OAL:eek: Man cant wait to see that. Are they traditional edge profile? Kinda hard to tell in the pic. Looks more like mandau symmetry?
 
it is sword symmetrical, not concave-- but yeah I will definitely take many many pictures when it finally shows up and than many more in a few months when the set finally are together.-- more than anything this set was meant to be a kachin dha, just with some interesting elements-- it looks pretty unique though , as I have never seen any dha quite like it , its super wide , but that is coooool.





big sword, little sword, modern headhunter, primitive headhunter

this was my full order , the big sword is that 8 lbs of steel beside the finished axes and sword, must wait until spring for forge to be reasonable, but am more than willing considering how happy I am with the rest. I am excited to see how it comes out, as the magic of hand making things is that it will never be the same twice, I hope to see evolutions on the established design, but I know I will be pleased regardless.
 
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Like that sword, simple and elegant. 'course I shouldn't be saying anything, I can barely get the shoulders of the tang right.
 
hey I can barely sharpen a stick right and I can see it is well made :D guy knows what he is doing, and has been working at it a long time. I am gonna get a traditional sword stand for the pair and put them on my fireplace! but I could not resist showing the order off, I am so happy with how the stuff turned out, and how cool the maker has been with me.
 
Hehe, I have been watching that blade at JWB's and wondering where it was going. Great to know it is going to be well taken care of. The silverwork on the handle; when I first saw it I was just enthralled because it is so erratic against the style of the blade. Speaking of which, I love what he has done with the blade profile to. It is awesome. I am looking forward to seeing the full size one as it proceeds through the process too :D Going to be an awesome set. You have sure gotten a great example of slightly modernized take of a very ancient style.
 
Just saw this! A little axe update: unsanded but fitted scales.
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Thanks for all your kind words, y'all
 
be careful, you could poke somebody's eye out with them things - as granny used to say...

i especially like the udated igorot axes.
 
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