Description:

Dagger knife "tombok lada"
Indonesia, Sumatra North, Toba-Batak, 19th century
L. 30 cm
Steel, wood, ivory, silver. A very beautiful tombok lada, a traditional prestigious knife form of the Toba-Batak on Bord-Sumatra. The thick, short handle made of elephant ivory shows a beautiful age patina. The end of the handle is fluted, which lends the piece additional elegance. The single-edged strong back blade merges at the base into a strong neck with a round cross-section. The blade is forged integrally with the thick, short blade neck, giving the construction a solid, high-quality appearance. It is profiled with double pits, an elaborate decorative form that is otherwise, with a few exceptions, unusual among the Batak. It is slightly concave, a design feature that goes back to ancient South-Indian forms, which in turn have Levantine ancestors. The knives are closely related to the sewar, a knife shape known throughout Indonesia, which has a metaphysical, multi-layered meaning similar to that of the kris (keris). The sheath is made of brown hardwood, the lower part surrounding the blade is covered with silver plate. The widened scabbard mouthpiece, which extends into an elegant ship's bow shape, is decorated with geometric (round and triangular) silver applications that are neatly embedded. A gold disc can be seen at the end of the protruding part - an unmistakable reference to a former high-ranking owner.
From an old German private collection, collected since the 1950s - The EU sales licence for this lot is available - This lot cannot be exported out of the European Union

Karo-Batak knives of this type, which have an almost abstract, "modernist" appearance and can be described as small works of art, are an unmistakable Karo-Batak development that is characterised by a very unique design language. Typical for Batak are the crescent-shaped mouthpieces of the sheaths (Malay: cangge) and, above all, the thick, short ivory handles (gading; elephant ivory), which are reminiscent of the Toba-Batak piso gading or halasan. This material has a magical quality, especially when it comes from strong elephant bulls. Something similar can be said of the antler sprouts of male deer, which are also often found on Batak knives. The name tombok lada means "pepper star"; whether this almost ironic name has anything to do with the fact that the pepper trade has helped the Karo-Batak to achieve considerable prosperity since the 17th century remains questionable

Dolchmesser "tombok lada"
Indonesien, Sumatra Nord-, Toba-Batak, 19. Jh.
L. 30 cm
Stahl, Holz, Elfenbein, Silber. Ein sehr schöner tombok lada, eine traditionelle prestigehaltige Messerform der Toba-Batak auf Bord-Sumatra. Der dicke, kurze Griff aus Elefanten-Elfenbein zeigt eine schönen Alterspatina. Der Griffabschluss ist kanneliert, was dem Stück zusätzliche Eleganz verleiht. Die einschneidige starke Rückenklinge geht an der Basis in einen kräftigen Hals mit rundem Querschnitt über. Die Klinge ist integral mit dem dicken, kurzen Klingenhals geschmiedet, was der Konstruktion eine solide, wertige Anmutung verleiht. Sie ist durch Doppelgruben profiliert, eine aufwendige Dekorform, die ansonsten, von wenigen Ausnahmen abgesehen, bei den Batak unüblich ist. Sie ist leicht konkav geschwungen, ein Formmerkmal, das auf alte südindische Formen zurückgeht, welche wiederum levantinische Vorfahren haben. Die Messer sind eng verwandt mit den sewar, eine in ganz Indonesien bekannten Messerform, die einen ähnlich metaphysische vielschichtige Bedeutung hat wie der Kris (keris). Die Scheide ist aus braunem Hartholz, der die Klinge umgebende, untere Teil ist mit Silberblech überzogen. Das verbreiterte Scheidenmundstück das in eine elegante Schiffsbug-Form auslädt, ist mit geometrischen (runden und dreieckigen) Silberapplikationen versehen, die sauber eingelassen sind. Am Ende des ausladenden Teils erkennt man eine Goldscheibe - unverkennbarer Hinweis auf einen ehemaligen hochrangingen Besitzer.
Aus einer alten deutschen Privat

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October 1, 2025 10:00 AM CEST
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0 € 19 € 5 €
20 € 179 € 10 €
180 € 299 € 20 €
300 € 359 € 30 €
360 € 399 € 40 €
400 € 899 € 50 €
900 € 999 € 100 €
1.000 € 1.999 € 100 €
2.000 € 2.999 € 200 €
3.000 € 3.599 € 300 €
3.600 € 3.999 € 400 €
4.000 € 9.999 € 500 €
10.000 € 19.999 € 1.000 €
20.000 € 29.999 € 2.000 €
30.000 € 35.999 € 3.000 €
36.000 € 39.999 € 4.000 €
40.000 € 99.999 € 5.000 €
100.000 € 199.999 € 10.000 €
200.000 € + 20.000 €