Pendant or of Johannes van Leenen

This hanger – a weapon with a short, broad blade – was made for Johan van Leenen, a high-ranking official in the Dutch East India Company. It is exceptionally luxurious, with a hilt of sawasa, a very expensive alloy of fire-gilt copper, gold and arsenic. The scabbard is covered with shagreen (rayskin). The hilt and scabbard were probably shipped separately to Europe, where a Dutch-made blade completed the weapon.