Rare Murut Dayak Sword from Sabah Borneo

An interesting and scarce form of Dyak sword Sangkit from Northern Borneo/Sabah. Related to the Murut Pakayun sword this interesting piece also has features of other Dyak swords, including a small hook like feature near the top of the blade shared by the Iban Parang Niabor. The long curved parang pedang-like blade is finely made and features visible lamellar watering and even some pattern welding towards the edge. There are slight chiselled lines near the top which decoratively lead down towards the sharpened part of the blade, the top few inches near the hilt are thick and unsharpened. The handle is carved of wood with an attractive scalloped design along the pommel, the grip made of tubular brass in common with other murut swords and weapons. The scabbard of wood, showing a fair amount of damage to both sides, it apparantly appears to have been hacked at, but it is rare to find the sheath stil together with a sword like this. The scabbard mouth is shaped not dissimilar to those on a parang latok and painted black as is the far end, there is a belt and loop fastening ingeniously made out of woven cord still remaining. This is an old weapon and dates to the 19th century.  mandau, parang ihlang, malay sword, sabah, sarawak, british north borneo, charles brooke, james brooke, brunei,