Item A27
This Item was Sold on 6 November
2020 for $240
Similar artifacts for sale are often found on the Oceanic
Artifacts web page.
Historical Pricing information for this item and similar artifacts
can be found at: Historical Artifact
Prices.
This item is an old sword from the Trobriand Islands. I
collected this sword from Barclay Gallery in Mount Clemens,
Michigan in 1987. The Gallery acquired it from an auction
house in London. It was marked as from the Trobriand
Islands, 19th Century. The sword was made by removing the
Rostrum ( extended jaw ) from a juvenile Sawfish. Although
sawfish can grow very large with saws longer than 2 metres,
the juvinile swords are the right size for use as a sword.
The width of thid sword is very comfortable in a hand grip
and the low inertia allows quick rotation and slashing
motion with this strong and stiff tool. The teeth are
designed for cutting as that is the function of the saw when
the sawfish swims into a school of small fish. This sword is
in remarkably good condition. A couple of the teeth are
missing, but this is natural and not recent damage. I
researched sawfish swords and found that many cultures
including the Dayaks, Australian Aborigines and South Sea
Islanders used similar swords.