Robert,
Looks like you and I got the 2 similar khukuris from the same fellow on eBay. Here are scans of mine showing the
front and
back. As Uncle Bill says, mine was
very rusted - I've since cleaned it, but the blade is actually blued by the rust. The most interesting thing to me is that the scabbard is made entirely of wood, carved to
look just like a traditional Nepalese leather sash scabbard such as the
HI gangaola or this
old village khukuri from John Powell's collection. John says he has seen others like this, but doesn't say much, making me suspect he's trying not to hurt my feelings
. Like you, I think it's not very old, despite the heavy coating of rust. In fact, when you smell the scabbbard there's such a strong smoke smell I suspect it was deliberately aged over a fire and allowed to rust. Yvsa, the dimensions of mine on your scale are:
A=1 3/4"
B=10"
C=3 1/8"
D=14"
E=4 1/4"
F=9/32"
Whatever its age and origins, I think the carved scabbard is an interesting piece of folk art.
Berk
(
Edit - John posted his reply while I was composing mine. Thanks, John).
[This message has been edited by Berkley (edited 08-05-2000).]
