Indian? Decorated serrated sickle (worth a look)

[Billman]

Yes this is an an Indian sickle - modern ones are sometimes found in the UK, presumably exported as samples along with cheap Indian made billhooks etc..

Modern ones are often made with a thin blade with a serrated edge (c.f. a wide hacksaw blade) rivetted to a mild steel spine (c.f. the rivetted English scythe blade, as compared to the original 100% forged ones).

Yours appears very ornate, but still a working tool, rather than ceremonial... Indian women often used ornate tools. The fine serrations indicate it is probably for rice, gather in the handful and sliced off to avoid losing the grains during harvest... European and Moroccon sickles have coarser serrations, but achieve the same effect...

They can be found listed on many Indain tool manufacturers' web pages, e.g. http://www.esuppliersindia.com/products/sickles.html or http://www.indiamart.com/ganpatimeta.../products.html

Similar (same??) tool called a royal sickle on http://defenceforumindia.com/showthr...?t=7479&page=2