Stock No..
s823

Borneo Dayak Mandau
A good example
early 20th century
Head Hunting sword

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A nice early 20th century head hunting sword, Mandau.

Sheathed it is 68cms long. Out of the sheath it is 67cms long. The blade length is 51cms long.
The hilt is a finely carved bone type with three original tufts of hair of varying lengths. Two tufts appear to be goats hair with the third tuft appearing to be a fine orange coloured hair, likely that of an Orangutan.
The blade is secured in to the hilt with native resins and fine wire bindings.
The extremely sharp blade is hollow forged to one side with the other side showing a thick faceted forte and a deep beveled cutting edge. The spine shows various cut outs and piercing to the tip region and there are nine inlayed brass plugs approx two thirds of the way down.
The sheath is timber and bark with multiple rattan bindings and it shows a nice warm old patina.

A good Borneo Mandau complete with sheath.