? about the kami marks on a couple of my knives

T

tulsamal

Joined
May 14, 1999
Messages
510
I've got two questions.

1) I've had a couple of potential buyers ask me about the kami mark on my 25" Kobra on ebay. Here's the mark:
kami.jpg


What is that mark actually supposed to be? And it seems to have been used by more than one person and was called, "the kami with no name." So what happened to him (or them)? Is a khukuri with that mark considered to be "first quality?"

25" Kobra

2) The nicest khukuri I own is the 22" Ganga Ram that I just listed. I took several pictures of it to post and then noticed it doesn't have a kami mark on it at all!? Was this common with the Ganga Ram's? It is way too nice of a knife to think one of the top people didn't turn it out!

22" Ganga Ram

Just curious plus I WILL get asked!
 
The KNN mark is a butterlamp. I'm not sure exactly what a butterlamp is though. My first khukuri was a 15" sirupati by KNN. It was very nicely done. It's also my only KNN khuk. I reckon that if the kami isn't any good Pala wouldn't hire the guy in the first place.

Dunno about the Ganga Rams though.
 
Yes, the KNN symbol is the butterlamp (or oil lamp - just open container for oil, fat with a wick), which is on Kobra tulsamal posted.

as for the ganga ram, I don't know. Are you sure that there is no kami marking at all? Sometimes they have marked with a 'symbol' (like the butter-lamp, half-moon, etc.), sometimes with their initial in Devanagari script, sometimes initials in Roman letters (or some combination of these). The devanagari marking near the spine, at the shoulder is the H.I. initials of course, and not a kami mark. strange that it would not have a kami 'signature' mark, since it appears to be an H.I.-marked one (and not a Bi.Go.-marked one, which I believe some of the 'villager' style khukuris are, and they may or may not have a kami signature, I don't know).

very nice rig by terry on the ganga ram by the bye.

--B.
 
Greg IIRC all of the Ganga Rams that wasn't made by the old kami himself were made by Bura.

Bruise is correct on the KNN and the butter lamp. A butter lamp is usually a smallish bowl filled partial way with butter or other oil with a wick floating in it. It's a cheap alternative to kerosene or other petroleum products and butter lamps have been used for thousands of years.
A bowl is also the cheapest alternative for a container as some butter lamps are very ornate and can be made of myriad materials. One of my favorite styles is the Aladdin Lamp brought to fame in the Arabian stories.:)
 
Greg IIRC all of the Ganga Rams that wasn't made by the old kami himself were made by Bura.
Click to expand...

I like the sound of that! I didn't think I owned anything by Bura himself. Maybe that explains part of the attraction I felt for that big knife at Terry's place. It just seemed so smooth and professionally done. Kind of silky. Bura would make sense. You would think he would have marked it somehow though. It is totally smooth back by the handle.
 
TM, those are some nice pictures you took. Good luck with the auction.
 
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