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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Moenchengladbach, Germany
Posts: 62
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Hello,
I recently acquired this Pihiya Kaetta style knife at ebay. Or at least I think it is a kind of Pihiya. The handle reminds me of the Serapendiya hilted Pihiyas altough the handle is made of cast brass. It is looks like a working type of knife than the commonly found highly decorated Pihiyas. Do You have any ideas if this could be a predecessor of or a working Pihiya contemporary to the highly decorated Pihiya Kaetta? Here ist the link to the knife (ebay No.: 390058685768): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...fvi%3D1&_rdc=1 Best regards, Helge |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,818
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A nice old piece, I saw this pass through an auction house recently and it didn't take long to reach eBay.
I certainly is an old and nice piece. The hilt is of Garuda, king of birds, ruler of the sky, and personification of power. I liked the piece and if I didn't have other commitments at this point in time I might have run it up a little higher. If you have a copy of Hindu arms and ritual, page 38 shows one similar with an ivory hilt, Elgood notes the same style blade as being European. A good buy. Gav |
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#3 |
Keris forum moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,085
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Interesting old blade. I see why you think it might be related to the piha Kaetta, but i am not convinced it is one.
Gav, you seem pretty sure the hilt depicts Garuda. Why is that? ![]() |
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#4 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,818
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Gav |
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#5 |
Keris forum moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
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Well, i don't have Elgood's book, but i did look over a lot of Google images under "garuda" and didn't really find anything that looks like this. I see what you think are wings and i suppose they might well be, but i don't really see anything else that is bird-like about this figure.
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#6 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,818
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I wouldn't look too hard for a Garuda exactly like the one presented. Below are but a few of the hundreds of different representations of Garuda. ![]() Gav |
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#7 |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Coral Springs, FL
Posts: 222
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The item in question, for future reference...
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#8 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 38
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If you go to this link.
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000498.html their are 3 somewhat similar birds on Piha Kaetta further down the thread. Best, Jerry Maskell |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,818
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Your a treasure!!!
Well noted. Gav |
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#10 | |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,818
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"In India the Garuda gradually assumed a human shape, retaining nothing of the bird of prey but the wings and the beak turned into a hooked nose" Gav |
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#11 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,879
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All the best, Jim |
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#12 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Moenchengladbach, Germany
Posts: 62
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Hello and thank You all for Your comments.
Of course You are right, it is a Garuda hilt. Seems as if I did not read Coomaraswamy's Medieval Sinhalese Art well enough. Maskell, thank You for the link. Actually this threat is one of the sources why I believe this knife to be related to the Piha Kaetta. Here is another threat to this toppic depicting Pihas with Garuda hilts. http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001998.html Best regards, Helge |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NC, U.S.A.
Posts: 2,087
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Very nice piece of rarer form. Looking over Maskell's thread, I was reminded of Sri Lanka's other figural hilted weapon, the kastane. This garuda interpretation seems to resemble a cross between the more typical form and the dragonlike kastane hilt?
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