Sword

Title

Sword

Year/Period

Late 19th - early 20th century

Region

Nias Island, Indonesia

Object Type

swords, sheaths (cases)

Material

wood (plant material), metal, brass (alloy)

Technique

woodworking, metalworking, brass smithing, carving (processes)

Dimension

Object size: 57.6 x 7.7 cm,
Object size: XXXX-04375-001 57.5 x 7.5 cm,
Object size: XXXX-04375-002 45.8 x 5.6 cm

Accession No.

XXXX-04375

Collection of

Asian Civilisations Museum

Credit Line

Gift of Cecil Boden Kloss, 1903

This sword with a simple carved hilt was made for combat. The sheath, made of wood, alternate with strips of brass sheathings. On the island of Nias, off the west coast of Sumatra, sword and dagger hilts are usually carved in the shape of human and animal heads. This sword was donated to the Museum by Cecil Boden Kloss, an English zoologist who accompanied Abbott, an American naturalist, on a few of his expeditions. He wrote an account of their trip to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1903.