Uncle Bill said maybe you guys could help me

C

Connie

Joined
Dec 21, 2001
Messages
4
We think we know WHAT this is, but if anyone has any specific information, we sure would appreciate it if you would share it. Thanks.


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You came to the right place. I can't help you but there are some others to be along shortly who definately can. Welcome and hang tight for a few and you will find out what you need.
 
First glance says the knife and scabbard may not go together but I'll defer to John Powell who I'm sure will be around soon to ID and comment.
 
The Khukuri looks to be a mid 20th century non-military version. A good knife, it doesn't look like a tourist piece. The handle looks too small to be intended for Western use.

The sheath is much older, perhaps late 19th century. It is fairly well made and decorated, and originally held a much larger (15-16" oal) military khukuri for an officer or official.

The two pieces do not go together.

n2s
 
Connie

BTW, welcome to the forums!

Could you tell us if there are any markings on the either the knife or the scabbard, and can you post a closeup of the knife showing the 3-4" of blade just in front of the handle?

n2s
 
And I forgot my manners as well. Welcome to the Cantina Connie!!!!:)

I have to agree about the scabbard and knife not appearing to match up.
With my limited knowledge of the Hanshee style I'm gonna say it looks sort of like a Hanshee to me, but JP is the one who will be able to tag the khukuri properly.

I sure wouldn't mind having the rig, as is!!!!!!!!:)
I'm not too fond of the shoulder khukuri's but for some reason this one has an appeal to me. Her lines are Beautiful IMO!!!!!!:D
 
I invited Connie to post and when she did failed to extend a welcome -- so welcome to the Cantina, Connie.

Thanks for good help n2s.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome. And thanks for your help. Sorry it's taken me a few hours to get back here but I've been trying to finish up year-end tasks so that we could close down my office for the holidays.

There are no markings that I can find anywhere on the blade. When the light is picture-worthy in a couple of hours, I'll get a photo posted of the 3-4" near the handle.

For a little background, this knife is part of a mostly 19th-century antiques collection. The collection is owned by a sister company of the company for which I work. Almost all of the records have been lost or destroyed so we're starting from square one, as it were. I've been given the job of figuring out how to dispose of the surplus inventory. (In case you're wondering, I don't get anything out of this beyond my regular salary.) So, I was going through storage boxes, pulling out shoes and coffee grinders and such (there's a really cool canon, but that's another story), when I came across this knife. Immediately, I knew I was SO over my head. My greatest concern is that I don't misrepresent the piece, especially now that I know the scabbard and knife might not belong together. I hadn't really made the connection until I read your posts but I was wondering where in the scabbard two smaller knives might fit -- there just doesn't seem to be a place for them. There are actually 3 of these that I've found, but the other two have a light coating of rust all over them and no scabbard. I think this one is in good condition (to my untrained eyes) because of gooey, yellow stuff that was all over it when I pulled it out of the scabbard. Someone in my office thought it might be cosmoline (?). A museum curator looked at all three and thought this one might be late 19th or early 20th-Century, but he's not a knife expert so I was hoping you guys could help me out.

So, that's my story. Thanks again for your help, and for the very warm welcome.

Connie
 
Hello Connie and Welcome to the Cantina. :) I don't know much about Khuks either, but I reminds me of my 15" Sirupati.:) Nice scabbard too.
 
Here are photos of the blade near the handle. The "94..." number on the one is an inventory number. It's written with black ink on liquid paper. Also, I didn't want to clean the blade too much for fear of doing damage somehow so that gunk you see is what is left from the gooey yellow stuff.

knife1.jpg

knife2.jpg


The scabbard appears to be wood covered with leather. Maybe that's standard issue, I don't know.

Thanks again.

Connie
 
The auction is over and I would very much like to know if I said anything that misrepresented the piece in a way that was detrimental to the buyer.

Thanks in advance.

Connie
 
Connie,
I don't remember your description, but I don't think it was deceptive.

This is a combination of a couple of styles that come from the 1890-1920 era. The eastern Nepalese knife looks like it was well made and probably wasn't fitted for this scabbard. The scabbard has a nice locket that is missing its ring/fastening device and sangli or chain. It also didn't have the pouch or back pockets for the karda and chakmak.

The straps and buttons wrapped around aren't made for a kothimora which this might have started out as. Then there is the kothi or chape which is for a totally different style scabbard. Looks like a lot of original bits added to make up a "fancy" kukri. Without being able to handle it and see wear lines, exposure marks or any tooling I couldn't tell you when this was done unfortunately. It just may have been cobbled together 90 years ago.
 
I am a somewhat experienced eBayer...
I would say that your description was fair and accurate.
Certainly better that many I have seen.

If you should scare up any more khuks, I would probably bid on them.


--Mike L.
 
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