lets date some khukuri

[Gehazi]

I was looking at my two wooden sheathed khukuri i snagged off ebay in my post mateba buying spree of knives. I noticed you guys posting old karda, and gave a look at mine, wanted to know if any of you guys could help me place the area of nepal these could have been made in, and if they are really old or just kinda old, or even tourist trap stuff, no forge marks , so im just unsure.

here is the first one, with some details I thought important.



close up of karda and chakma



trisul or fleur? you decide




will post more , just wanted to see what some more of the seasoned collectors thought about this piece and its authenticity.

 

[Jens Schuetz]

Really old.
Never seen a sheath like this but the blades (shape/ patina) and checkered handles of small knife. etc look almost identical to my 4 roughly 100+ years Kukris which I bought from 2 different reputable dealers.
Quite a few members here bought similar Kuks before me and after me.
Yours differs in only a few things. You have a heart or a pair of himalayan(edit) mountain oysters in the blade hole. The bolster has decoration where it touches the blade and the blade has three lines towards the spine whereas all I've seen so far is two. Also one of your small knifes has a bolster and the handle of the big one has a very wide butt end.
Just google for victorian longleaf and bhojpure and you will see how similar they still look.
Maybe yours was an earlier model and therefore more elaborate or it looks cooler because it was made for an officer.

 

[Gehazi]

thanks jens here is my other old , wooden sheath khukuri though i feel like its not as old as the other, it still has some really unusual stuff going on



detail of the wood carving on karda and khukuri



this one has the same design of the 3 part wooden sheath that can be taken apart by sliding the rings down, they fit very precisely , this one has three tools so i felt like it might be a more personal one, rather than a "military" khukuri , but still the wood has a very nice grain, and no three prong cho, obtained in same circumstance, bought with a lot of tourist trash khukuri ( one was even chromed lol), but i felt like it was worth it because it feels very solid just like the other, though I tend to think the first is my main prize.

the pair together all tied up ,



you can see the silvery one is fixed by a swivel nail at the tip, while the brass one has no such nail and the 2 big slats fit into the brass tip, you can see the join on both knives that was carved for the small knives, each one fits the blades precisely. you can kinda see the shadow in the other pictures where they karda and chakma rest in the wooden half sheath.

also forgive bad lighting, my good camera i lost the battery charger ;o

 

[ndoghouse]

Wow! Very cool! Maybe Berk or Spiral will drop in for some wisdom? Sure looks of the age. I would almost bet that those bands on the sheath are silver. The wood look just like the wood on my GAK. The edge on that one is interesting. It is thinner than most like it was made more for slicing through meat Very cool find! Cho is cool! Cant wait to hear what the experts say!

 

[Gehazi]

yeah i feel the same ndog, the smaller one definitely seems more like a traditional fighting khuk while the other feels more like a utility tool, though both seem very well made and sit in the hand well, i feel like the prong cho is definitely the finer of the two steel wise: and yes i did post just because i am still pretty novice, and this is the place to find people who are not so novice about the provenance of these great artifacts. really looking forward to hearing from the guys who know the khuks ( though fellow shark fans like yourself are welcome aswell , i still envy your chitlangi bowie sword thing)

one question, why do armory marks seem intermitten(sp)? are they sometimes hidden on the tail in the handle or do kamis generally not forge mark in village work?

 

[ndoghouse]

Im not sure if The British or Indian ever did anything like that on the tang. Ive never heard of it? I have heard of Katanas being id'd on the tang but thats another story? Yes I was a lucky dog to get that Bowie for sure. Its got a new AK brother in the mail now too. Pics later.

 

[Jens Schuetz]

one question, why do armory marks seem intermitten(sp)? are they sometimes hidden on the tail in the handle or do kamis generally not forge mark in village work?

I disassembled one historical Kukri and have a handleless blade of another one and both show no markings on the tang.

Kamis are low cast --> will probably never see a Kami mark on a Kukri except at HI
Only seen what is to believed regiment names and numbers, probably to prevent normal soldiers from "losing" them or just to keep track of them in a centralized armory for all regiments. Officers wouldn't need marks on their personal blades and normal civilians also wouldn't need any regiment mark.
I like Kami marks on HI blades but they are unique in the world of Kukris.
.
Now Katana smiths on the other hand were more valued in their society and some quite famous. Reason enough to put their unique marks or that of their teacher or whoever they got "inspired by" That in addition to a proper date helps tremendously when determining age and origin. Some even wrote test results of the blade on the tang. ("sliced through 3 guinea pigs in one stroke")

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Very cool I'll defer to the experts and pop this thread over to the Cantina so it can get a little more traction.

 

[Gehazi]

wow jens great info, its strange how the values in the civilization dictate such things, well not strange but fascinating. great info, thanks for moving sorry for not posting in cantina ~! also anyone know significance of a ox ball cho or fork or heart?