Bali Ritual Knife

[Battara]

Greetings folks,

This is a Balinese ritual knife I got years ago, but it has taken this long to restore. The first picture will show how I got it with 90% of the silver inlay gone. Following that the pictures are of the restored piece (most of the inlay is finished).

All the inlay is silver on one side with the hilt covered by thin silver sheet, and there is a copper butt plate.

What little research I have uncovered tells me that this knife is used to exorcise evil spirits as part of burial ceremonys in Bali. These are hard to find pieces and I have only seen 2 examples. Michael Backman has an example on his website.

Enjoy.