Chainpuri, limbu,Tibetan style kukri with pics.

S

spiraltwista

Joined
Nov 29, 2002
Messages
3,229
A little Chainpuri or Limbu villager style kukri turned up today , That a fellow recently ex.forumite was kind enough to point out to me recently, after it caught his eye as different from the norm, after a quick hefting & glancing at the blade in sunlight I decided to do a quick & dirty 10 second bleach spray, a 5 second wipe of lemon juice & a quick rinse rinse in boiling water just to see what i had, it revealed this rather course but lovely blade.

P1010103.jpg



P1010094.jpg



P1010095.jpg



P1010096.jpg



P1010102.jpg


I am sure the handle {cast zinc probably from old batteries & toothpaste tubes.} & the steel bolster are replacments, . Clearly this was a well used kukri at some time in its past, the spine has been well beaten for splitting firewood but luckily someone liked it enough to re handle it so its life could continue.

I am rather left wondering the age of the blade... When did the Tibetans & Nepalis stop doing this style of lamination?

Spiral
 
Very cool Spiral. I'm sure if you don't know the answer, not many others do either.
 
Interesting pattern there.
I'm interested in the process you used to bring the pattern out more... how exactly did you apply and remove the bleach? Atomizer, spray bottle?
 
The cho was enough to raise my eyebrows. The laminations are pretty spectacular!

Would your etching treatment be considered just a minor ding in the life of a working khuk, or a horrible sin that kills any antique value? I know very little about when cleaning becomes abuse with historical blades, so I'm curious.

Congrats on uncovering a hidden gem.
 
Thanks guys!

The etching was very minor just enough to show it ,but a wipe of oily paper towls & a bit of rub with some old denim & its nearly invisible accept when angled towards direct sunlight.

i used bath cleaner containg 5% nonionic surficants & 2.8% sodium hypochlorite in n a spray botlle, intending it to be the degreaser,I think it only showed up this lamination so easily due to whatever the double hairpin patternd steel or iron was, Ive never seen anything react so easily before.

As for etching antiques most collectors accept the etching of laminated blades to show patterns. But in truth today I dont think anyone could tell it was ever etched though. I expect when I have more time I will see what I can bring up in it with a bit more time & care. I got it for less than $50 & I would say with photos that show its lamination its worth rather more than that to any dealer or collector if it was for sale? ;) {it isnt of course.} It was only brought out Nepal by a small time ethnographic dealer a couple of months ago along with half a dozen more usual & tourist type pieces, so it was probably still in full village use just a few months ago.

Some famous dealers such as Artzi usualy use coca cola for thier intial lamination check, before deciding how to procede with it. Its not pretty but its effective for showing what youve got.

Spiral
 
Wow! Great pattern there, Spiral! I would have never thought that bleach would cause a pattern to POP like that. Hmmmm, maybe I should do some experiments with the 12.5% bleach that I have around here.

Jake
 
Nice pictures, thank you
 
Thankyou Yangdu!

Thanks Steely I have never seen it work like that before, I guess different bleches react with different mixes of iron & steel.

Let us know how you get on with bleach etching!

Spiral
 
Spiral, that is a cool one for sure. I have seen that sort of hairpin or jelly-roll on tibetan swords and on a few PI barongs.

Thanks for sharing it with us. If only it could talk..................
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top