Four khukuris I didn't buy

J

Johan van Zyl

Joined
Oct 11, 2000
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372
This weekend past I came across an old guy selling wares from his combi quite near to my street. He was clearly new to the block, and has since pulled up tentpegs and left. He had four khukuris for sale, besides a hoard of swords & divers militaria. One khuk was a big, typical lion's head tourist job made in India. He wanted R400 for it, approximately 40 US dollars. Next was a khuk looking quite genuine, but I could not positively identify it, also R400. The third one was a genuine Nepal- (Khukuri House, I believe) made khuk, similar to a gangawal, possibly a few years old already, at R350 (35 dollars). Then there was this tiny, real solid silver tie clasp in the shape of a khukuri in its scabbard. You depress a little button and out comes the khukuri out of its scabbard. Size, about 5 centimetres in length. Price: R280 (28 dollars). Because of other financial commitments, I could not afford to fork out the hundreds he wanted for any one of the last two mentioned items. I tried to get him to come down on these prices, but to no avail.

I'm still moping silently about my seriously depleted KPF (khukuri purchasing fund).....

(He actually claimed the tourist job was genuine. I noticed a similar lion's head model at an antique shop near here the other day, for R250, 25 dollars. The lady there also hotly proclaimed it to be genuine, and rare!)
 
Johan,

Those lion head khukuries are genuine and rare. They just happen to also be non-functional tourist trinkets.

Don't worry about the ones that get away. There are always equally interesting ones just around the corner.

n2s
 
There's only one that got away that bothers me -- that ivory handled, gold inlaid blade that I felt the dealer was trying to rob me on. That's one I have always wished I'd bought. The others I don't care. n2s is right.
 
Hi, n2s. When I read what you wrote "Those lion head khukuries are genuine and rare", I assumed you mean it synically/jokingly. I recall reading elsewhere that the khuks with the "lion of Ashoka" head were never issued, they were only made for the tourist market. Correct me if I am wrong on this. I still have much to learn. However, the one I saw with the old man had the word INDIA dotted into the steel. The blade looked like it was badly chromed. I myself have one of these, but with a blade only about 8 or 9 inches long. The one of the old man looked just like a big, big brother to mine, in all respects besides size. What is interesting about my small one, is that there are pouches for the karda and chakmak - can you believe it! I don't actually have them, but I am wondering what they would have looked like. Truly minute! Mine seemes to be quite old. I read that these lion head khuks (big & small) were made since about the 1920's for the tourist market.
 
Johan,

The words "genuine and rare" can be correctly applied to these knives. But, that does not mean that they have any significant value. Just becuase it has some age does not mean that it is not just an older piece of junk. The lion head khukuries are usually cheap tourist products. There are exceptions, but these would be easy to identify becuase the quality of manufacture would be on an entirely diferent level. Look at the blade first, the fit and finish second, and the accessories and decorative details last.

India did not achieve independence until 1947, so the example you saw is probably no older than that. There are older tourist knives from the 19th century that are much more colorful. These usually have exaggerated blades that are elaborately engraved with matching metal handles. But, once again the blades are non-functional, and the secondary market is pretty soft on them (~<$100).

n2s

Example: 19th tourist knives
7.jpg
 
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