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Lot 664
A sword "balato" (tologu)
Estimated Value:
2.500 € - 3.500 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Indonesia, Nias (South), Ono Niha, 19th cent.L. 65 cm
Steel, wood, non-ferrous metal, teeth, rattan. The blade of this balato sword, typical of Nias, is slightly curved inwards. It widens towards the front and drops off abruptly in a sharp curve at its widest point, with the tip lying in the cutting line. The wooden handle with the long, grooved brass socket has a large pommel in the shape of a stylized animal. It represents the head of the lasara, an underworld mythical creature in the sense of the singa of the Batak, the makkara or the naga pahóda, which has an open mouth and oversized fangs. The tongue is visible between the jaws. The mouth embodies the path to the underworld, from which the warrior draws his strength. The sides are carved in low relief. In the neck of the lasara sits a small grotesque figure, the bekhu, which originally represented the life-taking, initiated warrior. Here, the bekhu has mutated into an abstract bird-like figure with an almost Max Ernst-like appearance. The scabbard of the sword is made of medium-hard wood and is held together by numerous flat brass bands. Sword of a high-ranking, respected warrior in very good condition. The well-preserved amulet basket is a rarity.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s
The aristocracy of Nias illustrates and documents its authority through the possession of prestigious metal objects. Above all, these are golden headdresses and weapons such as the balato tologu, the sword of high-ranking warriors, as well as neck and arm jewelry. These objects establish a connection to the ancestors. The concept of the pusaka, the sacred heirloom, which represents a direct reference to the ethereal sphere, becomes particularly clear here. Blacksmiths in southern Nias are mostly nobles or descended from nobles. Because the blacksmith directly intervenes in or cements the social system by producing objects of rank, his trade is appropriate to the nobility and his work is indebted to the nobility. The shape of the sword is endemic and unmistakable, even if Sumatran influences are unmistakable. The term balato is related to belada and palitai, other bladed weapons with a very old history in Indonesia. The chronicler Ma-Huan (around 1420) already mentions the “pula-to” of the Javanese. The scabbards of important South-Niasian swords are usually decorated with amulet baskets, ragö or raga ifo boaya. This is also the case here. The basket gives the sword a soul and protects the wearer. The basket, woven from coarse rattan, is covered with large fangs and contains a row of stylized ancestor figurines carved from light wood. The baskets also sometimes contain strips of red cloth, teeth (also of human origin), jimat amulet stones and other items and, in the case of notable warriors, are covered with the teeth of large predators.
