SE Asia Knife # 2
 

Second one of a group of five knives, this is about 9" / 22 cm long in the scabbard, the hilt is carved ivory in the shape of an elephant figure, Ganesha. Definitely Thai, there is inscription on the blade in the Pai Buddhist script so I'm sure another monk knife. I think the scabbard is teak, with silver bands.

Interesting...scabbard bands...quite plain...well done...thought.

Note how the elephant, Lord Genesh has his hand on his right tusk...he will break this off and use it to write with. Genesh is the god of learning and remover of obsicals. ie I would soften see some of my Indian friends praying to him especially before college exams :D

Thanks for the post, I wondered about that. Ganesha figures are usually portrayed with the right tusk already broken off, one source I found says "one of the Puranic legends tells how Ganesha fought with the demon Gajamukha, and defeated him by breaking off his right tusk and hurling it at the demon".

Also interesting is that you found this in the north as this is a southern blade....

Nice piece. Great to learn more about Ganesha.

Like the unique silver work bands.

Are you sure? I know the kris blades are definitely from the south, but I see knives with this blade shape fairly often around here, I saw a crude wooden handled one with this blade shape at the flea market just last week, it was quite old looking. Unlike this one it was not a ceremonial knife, just a tool.

Well, maybe I'm wrong, but you do find this type blade shape in the south with a down turned handle. There are allot of other southern blade shapes other than the well known Kris, they are just not as well documented outside of Thailand. The blade shape itself yes you do see in the Thailand in general as a tool with your typical Thai E-nep.

I agree...the silverwork is something unusual...well done, but quite plain...not like what you normally see in the north...but certainly doesn't rule it out. Not unlikely that a southern piece could be carried north, but probably it is a local northern piece with the down curved handle just making use of the curve of the antler/ ivory.

With all the different hill tribes in the northern Thailand/golden triangle area, there seem to be a variety of styles. There are many different ethnic groups north of here, the Shan, Akha, Karen, Kachin, Tai, Yao, Hmong, Lisu, etc, Chiang Mai has been a trade and crafts center for hundreds of years so I a lot of different stuff made its way here (although it's pretty much picked over now. This elephant guy is maybe my favorite of the few knives I've collected here -- it's old, it's ivory, the carving is charming, and the scabbard is very nicely done as you mentioned. Looking at the amount of wear on the handle, it's possible the scabbard is not as old as the knife, although if it was made later, the person who did the work was very skilled, as it fits the blade like a glove.

The most common knives around here seem to be the plain bone or ivory handle types with the silver bolsters and matching silver foil scabbards, I see them for sale fairly often, along with the rattan-wrapped dha swords, which I see at the flea market all the time. The carved stuff, which I love, is much harder to turn up nowadays.