Product Description

Timor Sword 3: Surik

Material: Iron blade, wood scabbard, wood hilt with goat’s or horse hair
Style: Central Timor, early 20th century
Size: Length 86 cm, width 8 cm
Order Number: TATW3

Background: This is another of the five main types of swords found in Timor, mainly recognisable from the shape of their hilts. It is called a Surik and was worn only by the Meos, the foremost fighters, and usually also the most successful head-hunters of the village.

The hilt has the shape of a high triangle above an octagonal shaft which is broad at the foot. The triangle’s upper sides holes are bored into which tufts of black goat’s or horse hair are fixed. The flat sides of the triangle have geometric carved lines.

The scabbard is made of two parts of wood and the whole length on both sides has the same geometric carvings as the triangle. The mouth is thicker and more convex than the rest of the scabbard. The hilt’s lower part fits exactly. The scabbard is longer than the blade and ends in a broad, flat foot, also decorated with carvings.

The blades are often of English, Portuguese or Dutch origin, but reduced in length.

A similar example is shown in Traditional Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago, Albert G. Van Zonneveld, C. Zwartenkot Art Books, 2001 at page 133.