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Originally Posted by Philip
The shape of the blade is something encountered across a fairly large area of China. Knives with heavy, somewhat leaf-shaped blades of this type have been showing up in the Beijing antiques markets for at least a decade. Interestingly, most of the ones that I have seen and handled have differently-styled grips. Although they share the same "waisted" profile, the ones I've encountered are of oval cross section and are composed of a slab-like gripscale held by several domed rivets (usually 4 or 5) on each side of a tapering blade tang whose contour matches the finished shape of the handle. These rivetted "slab" gripscales are also seen on the straight bladed knives (candao) encased in scabbards which may or not include chopsticks and other culinary utensils.
On the knife in question, the fullers that terminate shy of the grip itself are a feature common on Chinese saber blades. So is the pattern of narrow groove at spine, wider one below. The simple incised motifs at the ends of the fullers are reminiscent of a very similar characteristic on Vietnamese knife and saber blades, although the motifs on this particular example hint at a different aesthetic tradition. The brass sleeve at the base of the blade is a concept analogous to the "tunkou" on many Chinese saber blades, although the shape of this example is closer to its Vietnamese equivalents.
The "stacked" construction of this knife's grip is something found in other regions as well. You see a similar practice on the pommels of small Tibetan sheath knives and on the backswords or pallasches used by the Kham people of the eastern Tibetan hinterlands. In such cases, the stacking typically consists of alternating plates of iron and copper. I'm sure that the concept carries over to the entire grip of this knife.
A very interesting piece!
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Great post, Philip, thanks.
Doesn't stacked iron and copper plates for a handle sound awkward? Very little blade presence when a handle is massive.