Belinda Smith
speaker
2,583 appearances
26 recordings
4 series
first heard Apr 2026
last heard 18 Sep
Belinda Smith’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 26 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.
Appearances
But what really got Adam excited about this Chris sword was not its wavy blade, nor its intricate carving work, but faded ink on a paper label stuck on its wooden sheath.
Even before getting his hands on the Chris sword from a collector in Brisbane a few years ago who had actually picked it up from a gun show in the late 80s or early 90s, Adam's been an avid collector of Chris.
Most Kris are smaller, like daggers, many with that distinctive wavy blade and intricate carving.
And they do generally look like they could cause harm, but many ethnicities in Indonesia consider the Kris to be more of a ceremonial or spiritual object than a weapon.
Each ethnic group has a slightly different style of Kris, and they're highly prized, often given as gifts.
And while Chris' swords retain the artisanal metalwork and carvings of the daggers, they weren't made just to be ceremonial objects.
They were for killing.
And their primary targets?
The Spanish, who from the 1500s conquered the Philippines and then tried to subjugate Moro territory to their rule.
But the Moro fought back, fiercely.
So Adam's Chris sword could have been wielded by a feared Moro raider as they resisted conquistadors in the seas around the Philippines.
But if you believe the faded label on its sheath, it also belonged to another sea-going fighter...
Vice Admiral of the White Horatio Nelson.
First Viscount Nelson, First Duke of Bronte.
We'll just call him Nelson.
So who was Nelson?
This is Martin Downer.
He was a dealer at Sotheby's in London and is an expert in Nelson and Nelson's artefacts.
Nelson's whole career was in the Navy.
He joined in 1771 at the tender age of 12 and quickly rose through the ranks to have command of his first ship at 20 years old.
Showing 1801–1820 of 2,583 · page 91 of 130
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