South Asian Dagger for Comments

[ksbhati]

Hi !

I am posting some pics of a South Asian Dagger that I saw the other day. Would appreciate more info and comments (I have absolutely no idea in this field ).

The pics are attached herein below :

Thanks & regards,

Karni

[ksbhati]

The Blade is loose...and the bottom seems to be missing ?? The Dagger seems to be made of some sort of Ivory (Doesnt look like Elephant though). Here is a pic of the the whole dagger...

[Marc]

It's a Japanese "trade" tanto or dagger. The material is most likely bone (normally bovine leg bone is used, as it its naturally "hollow" and dense enough to be carved). The blades are invariably of very low quality, and by this I mean they are normally not even heat-treated, they act mainly as a support for the mountings. Their "value" lies in the carvings, the quality of which varies through a very wide range. They were made in the 19th c. and (I think) through good part of the 20th as "export" items, there was quite a demand for them as "exotica curiosa" in the west.
It indeed seems to be missing the lowest part of the sheath (saya), they were done in "sections", carved to fit and glued together. I've seen them up to sword length. Some feature quite nice carvings.
Top quality ones exist and are indeed made of ivory, but the carving is then normally nothing less than exquisite, and in a different, more "figurative" style. I was recently handling one, "dagger" size, with the sheath carved out of a single piece off the tip of an elephant tusk. Talk about MASSIVE. The blade was really poor, also, but the carving, which was a natural-size lobster (and a big one at that), was absolutely heart taking. It brought tears to my eyes. Good quality Japanese ivory carving frequently does that to me...

Probably Dr. Stein will be able to add more information about your dagger.

[ksbhati]

Thank You Marc,

That was interesting reading. Doesnt look like bone...but then I am no expert and it could be as you say. The Blade of course as you rightly said seems to be very poor quality. What do you have to say about the quality of carving...is it poor, medium or good ?

Thanks once again for your reply.

Regards,

Karni

[tom hyle]

It looks like bone to me, too, which would be far more typical. An easy way to tell in this kind of situation is you can see the natural cavity (yes?), and that in bones is of a different shape than that in ivory; if you've seen many pieces of each you will tell this instantly. The carving on yours is quite toward the nice end; some of the best I've seen on one of these; 1/2 figural bas-relief, well executed, and note the dragon's inlaid eyes; most of these type pieces are more toward the direction of scrimshaw, with minimal or no relief carving, and often with stiff layout and straight unskilled lines at that. Also the blade looks to have a swedged/relieved spine at the tip (ie, thickest in the middle, not at the back of the blade), a nice traditional feature on this type of dagger (aikuchi or else tanto). Often called a woman's dagger or sometimes a kimono (tunic/robe) dagger, aikuchi were daggers for often concealed civilian wear in traditional Japanese society. They lack a guard, or have only a minimal, basically vestigial one (such seems to be missing here? and would also be bone, almost certainly). Tanto is a sword-hilted dagger with a handguard (I think this is the main technical distinction though, of course, old aikuchi are usually lighter than old tanto). In modern times they have remained poplular as letter openers, often very traditionally shaped, but rarely hardened. This looks like a fair quality one, and though the blade is likely (not certainly) untempered, it may well be traditionally formed (hard to tell in the photo, and some are and some aren't; it's a cross-sectional question, mostly; does it have the relieved tip? A fine edge? Is the spine (back edge) of the blade flat, humped, or "peaked" (ridged at a blunt angle)? How thick is the blade? How well does the habiki (the sheath tensioner at the top of the blade, where it goes into the handle) fit the blade? As far as it being for foreigners; I've never seen any evidence that this is or ever was exclusively the case with the type (19th/20th bone-dressed daggers), particularly of a nicer one, like this; certainly an ivory-dressed sword, while out of the ordinary, would not be particularly un-Japanese. I also suspect a bit of the sheath tip is missing, but only a small cap to cover the cavity in the bone end. Keeping, killing, and working the corpses of cattle was, in traditional Japanese society, the work of a seperate (and I think originally either foreign or aboriginal) caste. These people are called "Eta" though I think that's an insulting term, and I forget their other name.....I don't think traditional Japanese ate cattle, but they valued the usefulness of the hides, horns, and bones. So it's possible these are the work of a specific ethnic minority in Japan. The carving often strikes me as more Chinese or Korean than Japanese in style.

[ksbhati]

Thank you Tom,

Once again, very informative post . The Dagger unfortunately is no longer with me but I shall try to answer some of your queries out of memory.

The 'Habiki' is made of wood and fits the Blade very well. It also seemed to be a good tight fit with the Handle...I didnt try to force it in for fear of damaging the Handle but am sure could be re-fitted by someone more qualified than I am.

The Blade was thin (by thin, I mean that it was not thick if you know what I mean). It was fatter in the middle as you said. The edge seemed quite fine and the tip was sharp too. But, it did not seem to be tempered...(my knowledge on Japanese Weapons is very limited, but I have seen a traditional Katana with a good temper and this was nothing close to that, of course the comparison may not be moot here).

Best Regards,

Karni