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Lot 697
Sword "surik"
Estimated Value:
3.000 € - 5.000 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Indonesia East, Timor, Central, Atoin Meto, late 19th / early 20th cent.L. 108,5 cm
Steel, horn, wood, hair (horse), rattan. A very large, impressive surik from Timor. Swords of this type play an important role among the Tetum and Atoni (Atoin Meto), both as weapons and as objects of prestige. The term surik is derived from sanskr. curiga, “sword”, other derivatives of the term are corik or sonri. The mighty, slightly curved blade widens towards the front and has a long point that curves down abruptly towards the edge. It shows hammer marks on the flanks and is forged from high-quality imported steel. The large, abstractly designed horn handle with the long metal ferrule shows the central “eye”, which is reminiscent of the derivation from a mythical primordial being that is important as a bringer of culture in mythology. This concept can be traced well into the first millennium and probably originated in South India; in Ceylon, realistic “animal knobs” (makkara) have survived to this day. The beveled edge is decorated with a relief band. This sword is designed for use and is a weapon to be taken seriously, as it was - unfortunately - used to devastating effect in more recent ethnic conflicts. The thickened scabbard mouth of the two-part wooden scabbard bound with rattan straps shows an abstract ideal village, or a world tree with head motifs. These interpretations seem contradictory, but are thematically related (visualization of a myth of origin). To simplify matters, it is also interpreted as a “turtle”. This has to do with the fact that the Adigen, maramba, used the tortoise as one of their main insignia, a symbol of the middle world and a symbol of social order in traditional symbolism. The essential social basis of ritual warfare, especially with headhunting in connection with rites of passage, megalithic settlements and elaborate house constructions is a hierarchical social order and a stringent clan consciousness. The art of the Atoin / Atoni tends to be dual, or “bipolar” and axial, in accordance with cosmology. The dominant motifs here are the crocodile and the tortoise, both in abstract form. The base of the scabbard is rounded and concisely thickened.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s
On Timor, the specialized warrior or champion, meo, is responsible for organizing and moderating the ritualized warfare and the taking of life according to the adat. Meo was a special warrior rank on Timor, both among the Tetum and the Atoni. Its most important symbol is the surik
