hidden treasure

John Powell

John Powell

Joined
Mar 9, 1999
Messages
1,440
Proof that there are still hidden treasures out there.

Picked this up yesterday at a yard sale. It was a mess and everything was covered with layers of dirt, lint and oily grime. The blade would barely come out of the scabbard and the k&c were buried deep into the back between the leather and the wood. The pockets have pretty much disintegrated.

The folks who sold it were originally from Kitchener, Canada and said their grandfather had been a import/export businessman in India and that's were the kukri came from. No other details unfortunately nor any other associated goodies.

I don't frequent many of these sales, but they had a couple of old steamer trunks that were begging to be looked into.

18.5" 1lb 14oz

$75

ivorybud.jpg
 
VERY cool karda and chakma shapes...would love to see HI do something like that! Congrats!
 
How come all I find at yard sales is doll clothes and Rick Astley LPs?

JP can I follow you around? :D
 
Dayum! Is that Ivory?!?!?:eek: Beautiful piece and light.:) Gotta Love those old style kardas and chakmas!:D

Me Likey!:D

Follow hell! I wanna be one step ahead of John!:rolleyes: :p :D ;)
Just once I would like to score on a nice old khukuri for cheap, Ivory handled or not.:rolleyes: :footinmou
 
John, great find! I have yet to see a khukuri at a yard/garage/moving/estate sale despite going to hundreds and hundreds. I see few blades of any kind worth a look -- except for some nice kitchen cutlery -- maybe an average of one every two years -- and half the time its a very routine Mauser bayonet with no scabbard for $150.00. You inspire me to keep looking.
 
I truly lucked out. They had lots of stuff in the trunks and this was under old magazines, 1960s newspapers and loose spoons & forks. Absolutely nothing to do with the kukri. I asked about some books that I had no interest in and then offered them $50 for the kukri. A little schmoozing and counter-offers plus being the early bird helped.

The grips are ivory (a bit of a mystery since I'd expect higher overall quality) and this type karda is always a great bonus. I wish HI would produce these early models. The scabbard is thoroughly trashed on the back and some of the blade corrosion is quite deep, but it was thrilling to find this.

Action Comics #3 was there along with Mad #1 but I felt $1 for both was way too much. I also ignored the Honus Wagner baseball card and the old revolver w/o a trigger guard that had the word Colt engraved on the barrel.
 
Love the K&C. Nice condition on the handle. Other side look as good, JP?
 
John, good for you. Outstanding find. Question: if I found something like this I would be tempted to clean it up and polish out the blade and get rid of the old sheath and have a new one made.

I understand about possibly keeping the original sheath I guess, but would giving a nice polish to the blade wreck any collector value? I would be afraid the pitting and corrosion if left unchecked would get even deeper and eventually the blade would be ruined.

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

Norm
 
Dan
The flip side is a little worse including a crack in the grip. This was the side that sat at the bottom of the trunk and it looked like there was water damage long ago.

Norm
Restoration depends on the owner. I would never mirror-polish a blade, but will always try to neutralize the damage. The pitting has been cleaned out and won't go further. I have done a lot to clean up this piece but will do no more on the steel or ivory. I may do more on the backside of the scabbard and even attempt to replace the strap and buttons. Even if I wanted to recover the sheath I would use the original wood frame.

I am of the school of minimal restoration/reproduction. I have seen too many pieces that lost their history and therefore value by doing too much.
 
I have loads of garage sale "dreams".
"Oh that old guitar, my son had it back in the 60's, it has been in the closet since he left. $250.00 too much for ya?"
And I ride away with a '69 Les Paul flametop.
 
Great!

It's amazing that such a fine old blade is so adept at finding the appropriate owner.
 
Excelant John! Great find! Lovely heavy bladed style & great figuring to the ivory, choice kardas as well. its all been done very nicely!

Would you class it as Budhume? or a Bhojpure ? Indian or Nepalese?

either way its a lovely specimen.

Congratulations!

Spiral
 
Most certainly Nepali and I would say it's more bhojpure than budhume. If the scabbard had the pouch and strap/buttons I could date it a bit easier. It's probably mid 19thc.
 
Nice piece and a great find. I love it when that happens; it pretty much makes your week. Happy hunting.

n2s
 
Cool piece JP ! thanks!

N2S is spot, makes your week any day! {if you excuse the mixed metaphores!}

Spiral
 
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