Unusual Asian knife with monkey hilt for ID

[Ian]

Jose:

I agree that this depiction looks like the Thai version of Hanuman. It is interesting that the Ramakien (the Thai version of the Ramayama) features Hanuman more prominently. The Ramakien was written under the direction of (and some say by) King Rama I at the end of the 18th C. King Rama I also built the Grand Palace in Bangkok and the great temple Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). Within this temple are many depictions of the Ramakien and of Hanuman. The picture below comes from that temple, and shows the typical face of the Thai Hanuman with open mouth and fearsome canine teeth (as also depicted in the knife above).

BTW, note the old style daab depicted in this painting--this form of daab dates to the earlier Ayutthaya period as best we can tell--and Ayutthaya was the seat of Rama's mythical kingdom.

Ian


Hanuman fights Totsakan's (Ravana's) army. Wall painting from Wat Phra Kaeo.