Interesting configuration. It looks to me like it was designed to get the hand using it out of the way. Skinner? Or meant to slice something on a table or the ground?
Is that a makara on the pommel?
The band below the know work reminds me of a motif we have discussed on the keris Janggelan style hilt as a mask or vegetal/insect/arachnid feature.
Below the makara(?) head is a detail that reminds me of the tree of life. On the same band there is a double spiral almost modified into a swastika. Here is a page from Van der Hoop that discusses the double spiral's spread through the archipelago.
The final bit on the pommel I can't help but notice has eight petals and a bud on top. Is this a feature derived from a lotus? I am probably reaching a bit with these interpretations, but it is what I see on this interesting knife. For some reason the decoration on the whole has the feel of water.
Last edited by Interested Party; 8th November 2022 at 04:17 PM.
Reason: after a rethink
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