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15 March 2011

My first old Kukri

Discounting the one my daughter got for herself, this is the first Kukri I have just received through a deal with a gentleman who wanted one of my knives. I am certainly happy with my side of the deal and I hope he will be too.

I don't know much about it, except I think it's a lovely piece. There is a carving around the middle of the handle, only a little piece of wood missing on the ridge in the middle of the handle, and a few rust marks on the blade. It is quite a long and fine Kukri. Overall it's 20" (558mm) with a 15" (381mm) blade. The blade is 1 7/8" (48mm) wide at the belly.







I'll be trying to find out a bit of history, if possible.  I'll also be making a scabbard for it, as it did not come with one. This will be an interesting project as Kukris scabbards are made of  wood and covered in leather.

Couple more pictures. The carved ring. This is really neatly done. The small missing part of the ring, and a thin crack on top of the handle near the bolster are the only damages, apart for some rust pitting on the blade.





View of the bolster and the Cho.
















The consensus so far on the Forum is that this is an old "hanshee" kukri, very good quality, almost certainly made in Nepal in the early part of the 19th Century. The term Hanshee was used by collectors to describe kukris looking exactly like this one, long handle and slender blade, describing an almost perfect arc. The term is not known in Nepal.

I am really chuffed with it!
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4 comments:

  1. Gorges Smythe15 March 2011 at 18:37

    Is the top edge sharp also; or is that just an illusion?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fimbulmyrk16 March 2011 at 02:53

    It´s of the Ang Khola variety, very neatly and professionally done, and certainly not by a souvenir shop, but a very skilled village blacksmith. I don´t think the spine is sharpened, or is it? It´s just the hollow for balance, I think.

    Are there inscription in the Shivalingam (the fullers)?

    How is the Cho done? Is it filed to a tip? Are there filemarks?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joel16 March 2011 at 10:22

    Hi gorges. The top edge is not sharp, it's a photographic illusion. The spine is a ^ shape, very neatly done, I must say, there are faint marks, which I'd say are filemarks all along the spine.

    Markus. I have joined a kukri forum and it appears the term Ang Khola refers to a kukri where the fuller extand to the whole length of the blade, which is not the case for this one. The term Hanshee (not known in Nepal) used to be used by collectors to describe this type, with long handle and slender blade like mine. It appears this one is really quite old, first part of the 19th Century, up to 1850, and almost certainly made in Nepal.
    The Cho is neatly filed to a sharp tip, yes, there are faint file marks visible.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Andrew Boe25 March 2011 at 01:29

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    ReplyDelete

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