Exceptionaly rare knife from Formosa/Taiwan

[yuanzhumin]

Hello

I wanted to share this piece just arrived into my collection and see if one of you had any additional infos on it.

This is an exceptionally rare ceremonial bronze and iron knife from the Paiwan tribe. I personally think that there are only few dozens of them left.

The following comments are copied from the digital on line Museum of Taiwan. I attached hereunder 4 photos of my knife and then one (the 5th) of the knife displayed on the website of the digital Museum of Taiwan.

Mine is a shorter with the following dimensions : 19x5 cm

Bronze knife (comments from the museum)

Introduction
Bronze knives, azure stone beads and ceramic pots are the “three treasures” of the Paiwan tribe. In earlier days these items would only be owned by chiefs or higher-class people and were usually passed down from ancestors. Usually these sacred items would not be touched casually by ordinary people and would only be shown during the special ceremony held every five years.
??The Paiwan today only know that the bronze knives were passed down from their ancestors and were sacred. Taiwan does not have the tin needed to make bronze and none of the aborigine tribes possessed bronze making technology, so some scholars believe the bronze knives originated in the Dongshan civilization of Vietnam because of their shape and material.

Shape
Bronze handle and iron blade. The handle is human head shaped. The head is decorated with five joined small heads. On the lower part of the handle and where it joins the handle there are joined triangles shapes carved in. The blade is iron. The upper part has a waist and the lower part is a double-edged blade.

Manufacturing method
Handle made of cast bronze. It is a double edged blade made from worked iron.

Function and use
Bronze knives are different to domestic use knives or fighting knives. They had no practical function and were a sacred item. They were representative of position and status. They would only be displayed during the once-every-five-year ceremony.

[Tim Simmons]

Magnificent!! A pleasure to see.

[yuanzhumin]

Thank you Tim. For you and the others that are interested I posted hereafter the pictures of the two most beautiful of these kind of ceremonial or ritual knives that I have ever seen.
The first one is very long with 56 cm and is one of the masterpiece of the Shunye Museum of Aboriginal art, in Taipei, and the second one, measuring 42 cm, is in the collections of the Sankokan Museum of the Tenri University, in Japan.

[Tim Simmons]

Superb artistry and casting on the second example. How wonderful to have one, even if not quite as fine as these two.

[Rick]

These are lovely examples !
Please keep showing us Taiwanese ethnograpich weapons Yuanzhumin , they are seldom seen on the forum .

[Nonoy Tan]

Taiwan does not have the tin needed to make bronze and none of the aborigine tribes possessed bronze making technology, so some scholars believe the bronze knives originated in the Dongshan civilization of Vietnam because of their shape and material.

Hi Yuanzhumin,

Do scholars theorize that the bronze knives were exported to Formosa?

Did the indigenous peoples of Formosa attempt to make similar knives using iron?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Magnificent!! A pleasure to see.

Agree with Tim! And congrats to this rare find.

[KuKulzA28]

You're an expert and I a novice. You're a collector and historian, and I use machetes in the woods. I've heard of and seen pictures of these bronze knives... but I know little to nothing about them - let alone having one. You're very fortunate to have one... Hold onto it and keep good care of it, please!!!

If only the looted bronze knives were returned to Taiwan, or even to the Paiwanese people...

It's always good to see stuff from the home(is)land pop up on this forum.

[migueldiaz]

thanks for sharing! would there be mainland china blades that are similar in shape? thanks in advance

[fearn]

I suspect the tradition of ceremonial bronze knives was widespread, because they showed up in Korea as well. However, the Korean knives don't look at all like these, and as far as I can tell, their design is unique to Taiwan.

How old are they?

Absolutely wonderful to see them.

F

[Nonoy Tan]

Scholars don’t know where these knives are coming from. They could have been imported as the Paiwan that used them and the other contemporary aborigines tribes didn’t know how to make iron and bronze till the 20th cent. The second hypothesis is that the bronze knives could have been made before, much earlier by the ancestors of the Paiwan but the knowledge was lost, or by another insular ethnic group that disappeared. The fact is that places were iron was made and bronze casted were found on the island, some of them dating back long long time ago. But what happened after is a mystery ?

Thanks for providing this information, Yuanzhumin. Very interesting. The answers pose more questions though

Have there been any archaeological excavations which show metal blades or knives dating pre-20th century?

Did the aboriginal peoples export raw jade or processed jade? Did they use metal or stone tools to extract and work on Jade?