Tibetan Knife

ferguson

ferguson

Joined
Feb 21, 2001
Messages
4,238
Found this on Ebay. May be a tourist piece. The blade's not terribly hard. But the engraving is nice. Dragon on one side, fish on the other. But it's a purty thang.:) Anybody know about these?

Steve

tibetan-knife-1.jpg
 
Twisted wire handles are sort of neat - they look real nice, give you a real solid grip, and they're pretty hard to ding up. Can be a bit rough if you hand's soft, though.

As to whether or not it's a tourist piece I'm not sure - but if it is a tourist piece, it's a pretty attractive looking one.
 
It doesn't seem to be very old; but, interesting anyway. Stone shows one like this under "knives" and calls it a Butan knife, it also looks a bit like a khanda (an old indian sword style.)

n2s
 
Steve,

The second Tibetan knife of Oriental Arms site is most true to Tibetan / Butanese form. Blade shape, construction and handle are all typical of a high end Tibetan dagger.

Notice the "hairpin" striations in the metal. This is because when the Tibetans made "folded steel" they could not afford the luxery of many folds. You can easily feel the lines in the metal.

Tibet is a high altitude country with not a lot of fuel to obtain high heat.

The blade shape is also typically Tibetan, with the very sharp and very gently sloping point. The center of the handle is also correct with the nicely done ray skin.

Pity the scabbard is lost. A knife without a scabbard is like a man without a woman ----- incomplete.
 
http://www.aolisi.net/TibetanKnife.htm

You'll find in the link pictures of my Tibetan knife, a little story, and even a link to a website which sells quality knives from that smithy, along with some worthless garbage knives. I'm not sure if the language barrier is surmountable buying off the website. I haven't tried.
 
Great read Howard. I like that knife Steve. Keep teaching me about ethnic blades OK? :thumbup:
 
Hate to say this and its the purest of speculation and should be given weight accordingly . Why does it look like it should say made in India in a reversed letter stamp ?
 
And a more elaborate dagger with hairpin striations. Silver fittings and ray skin. about 15" OAL
 
Why is it that so many knives have the same etched dragon? Even cheap tourist khuks to pretend kantanas...and they appear on ones made all sorts of places like the Philippines and India
 
Howard, I like that knife of yours. Did you guys notice the Tibetan Mastiffs on that website? The Mastiffs in Tibet scared Marco Polo $hitless when he was traveling through.

Bill, are those examples yours? Very beautiful, I really like the repousse work on them.

Fergie, that is quite a nice catch for the money invested. I am waiting for more details on the dha ;~)
 
stevomiller said:
Bill, are those examples yours? Very beautiful, I really like the repousse work on them.
Click to expand...

Thank you Steve! Yes, they are mine. Got the bigger one at the Baltimore Arms Show in 2001.

The smaller kinfe came from my friend, Steve Brothers, in Katmandu, Nepal. He has a lot of Nepalese and Tibetan pieces.

Married to a Tamung woman whose Aunt is a Shamaness. Would love to visit them, but Nepal is really messed up right now.

Have a Theyyam sword coming. Will post some pics when I get it. Have a few that Steve took, but they don't do it justice.
 
Bill, that sword is crazy. Reminds me of the ceremonial pieces that you see from Africa. I have seen some Indian pieces that had the chingederas on the spine like that. BTW, does Theyyam refer to a people, a place, or the actual name of the sword? Looks like you could lop heads with it like a kora, but what do I know of such things.
 
Azis said:
Why is it that so many knives have the same etched dragon? Even cheap tourist khuks to pretend kantanas...and they appear on ones made all sorts of places like the Philippines and India
Click to expand...

we have a factory in wales that does all the engraving for africa, east asia, china, mongolia, the phillipenes, vietnam, myanmar, india, indonesia, pakistan and brooklyn, n.y.

ever since they closed the coal mines there, the welsh have turned to other means of support. the welsh dragon (their national bird) is now a world-wide symbol of their successful comeback.

gb-wales.gif

Y Ddraig Goch
 
stevomiller said:
Bill, that sword is crazy. Reminds me of the ceremonial pieces that you see from Africa. I have seen some Indian pieces that had the chingederas on the spine like that. BTW, does Theyyam refer to a people, a place, or the actual name of the sword? Looks like you could lop heads with it like a kora, but what do I know of such things.
Click to expand...

Steve,

You are correct in that this is a ceremonial sword and it was, many years ago, used to lop. It is sad, but they sometimes sell off old pieces like my sword because they become quite valuable and they use the money to buy more modern pieces.

In many cultures "old" or "antique" means "worn out." They sell their "antiques" and buy modern, shiney, new, pieces that they think will better please their gods and goddesses. For instance I bought this incredble old Tibetan bell that came from a wandering monk. I asked my friend who sent it to me, why the monk would sell it. He exclaimed, "Because he wanted a NEW bell!"

I am just beginning to study this cult, but will tell you what I know.

The Theyyam of Kerala / Malabar are a ritual cult that go back many hundreds of years. They invoke wrathful or dharma goddesses. Powerful deities who protect, grant favors and divinations --- and they do very heavy things to demons who bother the worshippers.

In the past the Theyyam did sacrifice of humans and animals. The rituals are still performed but the sacrifices have been toned down as far as the public are concerned.

Here is a picture of one of the ritualists, in trance, holding a similar sword.
http://www.vengara.8k.com/cgi-bin/i/den18.JPG

they get pretty dramatic
http://www.vengara.8k.com/cgi-bin/i/den19.JPG

http://www.vengara.8k.com/cgi-bin/i/den22.JPG
 
Azis said:
Why is it that so many knives have the same etched dragon? Even cheap tourist khuks to pretend kantanas...and they appear on ones made all sorts of places like the Philippines and India
Click to expand...

I was presented a wonderful old Tibetan sword that had a dragon etched, stamped or chisled inot the blade. I asked Phil Tom about it and he advised against it as a collector piece. He felt that the dragon had been added recently to make the sword more appealing to the Western Mindset.

It is funny how other cultures think about us. My Uncle John married an Italian woman during WWII. He brought her here to Georgia. In the 1950s one of her sisters came to visit. She bought only evening gowns to wear because that was what she saw American women wearing in the movies.

When my nephew went to visit his mother's family in the 1960s or 1970s, he wore designer jeans. They took up a collection to buy him some decent clothes.
 
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