Description:

Prestige sword "piso halasan", "kalasan", "eccat"
Indonesia, Sumatra North, Karo-Batak, 18th/19th century
L. 67 cm
A highly aesthetic prestige knife of the Batak people of North Sumatra. It features a long, slender, single-edged blade with an elongated tip, an anthropomorphic handle made of dark patinated ivory, a long silver and suasa (silver-copper-gold alloy) ferrule, and a hardwood scabbard held together with suasa and silver bands. The blade is of very high quality and professional craftsmanship; it can be dated to the 18th or early 19th century. It features the "penis," a small bulge on the cutting edge in the concave blade attachment near the blade neck, which is often found on blades in Tibeto-Burmese and Austronesian cultures and makes them magically "potent" (one of the most famous examples is the Nepalese "kukri").
The handle is mounted so that the handle figures face the cutting edge, which is unusual for this type of blade. Interestingly, the tang or the neck of the blade is not bent backwards, but straight, in keeping with this basic design, which indicates a deliberately designed structure. The handle is mounted so that the handle figures face the cutting edge, which is unusual for this type of blade object. Interestingly, the tang, or rather the blade neck, is not curved backward, in keeping with this basic design, but rather straight, indicating a deliberately designed construction. The ivory scabbard mouthpiece (like the handle, it is patinated, probably with betel extract) depicts two standing figures (male and female, probably an ancestral pair or wedding couple) with a "Polynesian" profile at the edge, and between them, in the flat area, a lizard (lizard or a weakened crocodile) as a fertility symbol. Lizards and snakes, due to their regenerative capacity and proximity to the earth, are among the most important fertility symbols and are directly linked to agricultural fertility (and the headhunting that promotes it). They embody the earth and female fertility - in contrast to rhinoceros and singa figures, which are considered masculine. An old, important knife with an unusually beautiful patina.
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

Prestige-Schwertmesser "piso halasan", "kalasan", "eccat"
Indonesien, Sumatra Nord-, Karo-Batak, 18./19. Jh.
L. 67 cm
Sehr ästhetisches Prestige-Messer der Batak auf Nord-Sumatra. Lange, schlanke einschneidige Rückenklinge mit langgezogener Spitze, anthropomorpher Griff aus dunkel patiniertem Elfenbein, lange Silber- und suasa-Zwinge (Silber-Kupfer-Gold-Legierung), Scheide aus mit suasa- und Silberbändern zusammengehaltenem Hartholz. Die Klinge ist von sehr hochwertiger, professioneller Fertigung; sie kann noch dem 18. oder frühen 19. Jahrhundert zugewiesen werden. Sie hat den „Penis“, eine kleine Ausbuchtung an der Schneidenseite im konkaven Schneidenansatz nach dem Klingenhals, den man im tibeto-birmanischen und austronesischen Kulturbereich oft an Klingen findet und diese magisch „potent“ macht (eins der bekanntesten Beispiele hierfür ist das „kukri“ der Nepalesen). Der Griff ist so montiert, dass die Grifffiguren zur Schneidenseite weisen, was ungewöhnlich für diesen Typ von Klingenobjekt ist. Interessanterweise ist die Angel bzw. der Klingenhals entsprechend dieser Grundanlage nicht nach hinten abgebogen, sondern gerade, was auf einen gezielt angelegten Aufbau hindeutet.
Das Scheidenmundstück aus Elfenbein (es ist wie der Griff patiniert, wahrscheinlich mit Betel- Absud) zeigt randständig zwei stehende Figuren (männlich - weiblich, wohl ein Ahnenpaar oder Hochzeitspaar) mit „polynesischem“ Profil und dazwischen im flächigen Bereich eine Echse (Eidechse bzw. abgeschwächtes Krokodil) als Fruchtbarkeitssymbol. Echsen und Schlangen sind aufgrund ihrer Regenerationsfähigkeit und Erdnähe eins der wichtigsten Fruchtbarkeitssymbole und unmittelbar mit landwirtschaftlich

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Export to countries outside the EU are subject to the restrictions of the UNESCO convention from 1970 and the European Agreement for the Protection of Cultural Heritage from 1993. Moreover, the cites regulations are applicable. Objects with materials such as ivory or tortoise shell require a permission for export into countries outside the EU contract area due to cites regulations. We point out that such a permission is usually not given. For exports within the EU the Act to Protect German Cultural Property against Removal (Kulturgutschutzgesetz) has been in force since 6th August 2016.


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October 1, 2025 10:00 AM CEST
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300 € 359 € 30 €
360 € 399 € 40 €
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900 € 999 € 100 €
1.000 € 1.999 € 100 €
2.000 € 2.999 € 200 €
3.000 € 3.599 € 300 €
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