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Lot 673
Long knife "piso sanalenggam" (surik)
Estimated Value:
4.000 € - 6.000 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Pakpak-Batak (possibly Toba), probably 17th or 18th cent.L. 70 cm
Steel, horn, wood, brass, pigments. An outstanding knife of great cultural and historical significance. The piso sanalenggam (literally ‘knife with red-black sheath’) is one of the oldest and most honourable blade objects of the Batak. It is usually associated with the Pakpak and Dairi Batak, but will have been common among all Batak groups who had contact with South India (or Ceylon) in the past. The Toba, who otherwise tend to preserve Thai and Khmer elements in their blade culture, are also familiar with the surik (the old name for this form). The blade of this piso sanalenggam is strongly bulbous and front-heavy. It is made of refined steel and the cutting edge is selectively hardened. The cutting edge has a pronounced S-line. The piso sanalenggam is subject to a strict canon of form and decoration. The handle depicts an aristocratic-looking figure with bent knees, crowned by a two-lobed headscarf. A stylised bird figure protrudes between them, representing the mythological descent of the high nobility from a bird deity (hornbill). The figure wears a chequered kain (poleng chequered pattern as a symbol of ambivalence) and holds his hands in the typical Batak diamond shape, as is also found among the Dayak. The foot of the handle sits in a thick-walled cast yellow ferrule of typical Toba style. The scabbard is cut in low relief and coloured red-black. The geometric motif field, divided into rhombuses, can be interpreted as a derivation from Indian patola textiles, which once symbolised royal status. The shape of the entire knife in the sheath is reminiscent of a canoe, which can possibly be interpreted as a reference to the transmigration of souls. The shape is still close to the inward-curved sickle sword in the kopis / falcata style, which was probably brought to India by the Macedonians in the 3rd century BC. The Indian temple friezes of Ayanta and Hoysala provide evidence of these blades from the 5th century BCE at the latest, but probably earlier. The surik form spread as far as Seram and Tanimbar (eastern Indonesia). Overall, the piece or rather this type of knife as an ensemble embodies a level of Indian cultural input enriched with ancient Austronesian elements and is of great art-historical significance.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s - Signs of age and wear, minimally dam.
Reference: IFICAH (2018): The kinship in the neck, ancestor cult and blade art of the Batak in North Sumatra. International Foundation of Indonesian Culture and Asian Heritage. Hollenstedt. S. 10-12
Piso sanalenggam are generally to be seen in connection with sacrificial acts by the datu, priests. As in India (dussedra festival), animal sacrifices - and in earlier times certainly also human sacrifices - were required on many occasions, but were mainly performed in connection with burials. The bulbous edge of the piso sanalenggam is well suited for ritual killings, especially for severing the front neck of larger mammals with a single blow; smaller animals such as goats, poultry etc. can also be decapitated with it. This type of killing is considered to be particularly fertility-enhancing due to the release of large amounts of blood
