The ‘Lopah Petawaran’ is an ancient type of knife which has its origin in the Northern regions of Sumatra. The knife was used for several reasons such as making incisions in buffalo ears. These knifes were ritually placed in a mixture of flour and water to sprankle on people or objects to ward off evil spirits.
The blade:
Straight back and cutting edge. The edge curves towards the tip and has a flat spine with a chiseled figural motif on the base with decoration running down towards half the blade. Despite the blades pitting on some places, a forging pattern can be distinguished. Due to the original finish, I decided to leave the blade in ‘as found’ condition to maintain its originality.
The hilt:
An interpretation of the Jongo stork, and is therefor called ‘Hulu Jongo’. Possibility is that with Jongo stork, the Storm’s stork or Milky stork was ment, yet I have not found any further information on the species in relationship with the people of Sumatra. Made from karbouw horn, a domesticated subspecies of the waterbuffalo. A similarity can be seen on the ‘Rencong’ of which the ‘Lopah Petawaran’ is believed to its predecessor.

The scabbard:
Made of two wooden slabs, held by a fine quality silver sheet. The chape of the scabbard has a subtile lobbed motif and the scabbard mouth has a fine braided silver end.

Condition: Excellent, traces of use and age on the silver, missing a tiny piece. Slightly pitted blade, but still in good original shape and nicely patinated. The horn hilt has a crack which nearly always happens due to age and transition of climate. A rare piece in general very good condition.

Dimensions:
Hilt: 7.5cm
Blade: 23cm
Scabbard: 26.4cm
Total length: 37cm