Ivory Handled Kukri

[russel]

Hi Guys,

This Kukri is one of my pride and joys, particularly because it came to me rather cheaply! I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I would be interested to recieve comments, particularly an estimate of age.

IKRHS Dimensions:
A = 46mm; B = 331mm; C = 99mm; D = 437mm; E = 103mm; F = 8.5mm; G = 6.5mm; W = 540g

Cheers - Russel

[Battara]

W W!

What a great piece! I love the carving in the ivory (and even the blade itself).

Is this late 19th century? Do you have a scabbard?

[russel]

Thanks Battery, she puts a smile on my face every time I see her (for some perverse reason I attribute the feminine to most of my favourite items) :-)

I have attached a couple of more images. I make a guess at an origin around 1875, but I defer to the experts' opinion. It did come with a scabbard, with remnants of quill-work. I will post images of it in the next few days (separately packed due to house move).

Thanks again,
Russel

[russel]

Sorry Battara! Auto-correct keyboard was incorrect!

[spiral]

Lovely find Russel!

Unusual shape blade, in truth the blade decoration strikes me as one sometimes seen mid. 19th century. The straightness of hilt & the look of the kaudi area do seem later 19th century to me

So I would say your estimate seems quite likely.. Around that area give or take 10 years.}

To help non kukriites understand the measurements notation here's the kukri dimensions drawing we usually use. {Originally designed by Yvsa who has sadly walked west.}



I wonder what was originally inset in the ivory, next to the bolster? Cabochon Gems I suppose, rubies would have looked good, with the silver & ivory.

A truly lovely & unusual piece, any chance of a photo of the butt end?

spiral

[CharlesS]

Lovely piece. I am as intrigued by the complex fullering as by the beautifully carved ivory.

Great get!

[Sajen]

Hi Russel,

not my area of collecting but this is a very very nice piece, congrats!

Regards,

Detlef

[spiral]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Lovely piece. I am as intrigued by the complex fullering as by the beautifully carved ivory.

Heres some more with complex fullering from my collection. They remind me of some Persian blade work.
















As I cant add photos of my other one it seems... It can be found on this thread, along with many other laminated kukris!

linky to nice kukris!

The famous Fisher kukri from the Gurkha museaum has similar decorative fullering.

bbc link to fisher kuk!

Spiral

[Silver John]

Lovely kukri.

It reminds me of this one (which I sadly failed to win today).

[spiral]

Certainly does Mr.W

A good buy at C.$789 for someone...

Not for sale to UK or China though , despite bieng sold from Brit. address buy a member of this forum.

spiral

[Silver John]

Yes it was a few $100 more than my max bid. Because of the restrictions I had my brother in New Zealand up at 2:30 in the morning bidding for me!

Oh well wasn't meant to be, and the winning bidder must really have wanted it at that price! Beautiful piece.

[Battara]

Originally Posted by spiral

I wonder what was originally inset in the ivory, next to the bolster? Cabochon Gems I suppose, rubies would have looked good, with the silver & ivory.

spiral

That is a good point and would be insanely beautiful if restored like this!

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by spiral

Heres some more with complex fullering from my collection. They remind me of some Persian blade work. Spiral

WoW...an even better example of the fullering, better than the first one in terms of quality of craftsmanship. Very impressive and certainly does remind one of Persian and Indian work.

[russel]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Compared to some of the other examples the handle carving and fuller work on mine is quite primitive. The rough finishing makes me doubt the idea of it being set with rubies. It is difficult to photograph, but there does seem to be a reddish residue in the base of some of the carving, perhaps a red resin?

Attached is an image of the butt as requested.

I was watching the stunning similar Kukri which sold recently, I even whistfully considered the notion of giving up beer for a few months to pay for it (crazy thought), sadly it went for a price too steep for me.

Thanks again,
Russel

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Silver John

I had my brother in New Zealand up at 2:30 in the morning bidding for me! .

You dirty Cheat! {Go to top of the class!}

Originally Posted by Silver John

Oh well wasn't meant to be, and the winning bidder must really have wanted it at that price! Beautiful piece.

Yes and the second highest bidder did as well!

Originally Posted by russel

The rough finishing makes me doubt the idea of it being set with rubies. It is difficult to photograph, but there does seem to be a reddish residue in the base of some of the carving, perhaps a red resin?

Attached is an image of the butt as requested.

Could be Russel, But I did wonder if some of the roughness is later work with file or grinder, particularly around the butt, perhaps to remove or smooth out chips?

Thanks, for extra picture, I wanted to see what cut from the tusk they had used.

Originally Posted by CharlesS

WoW...an even better example of the fullering, better than the first one in terms of quality of craftsmanship. Very impressive and certainly does remind one of Persian and Indian work.

Thank you Charles, I think it is almost certainly Indian in construction.

Heres another one.....Both of these have 14 to 15 inch blades.

spiral

[russel]

Here are a few images of the scabbard which came with this Kukri. The seller's images were quite poor so the quality of the scabbard was a complete surprise (and added bonus). It has seen better days. Much of the quill-work has worn away, but that which remains is quite lovely. It is the only example of quill-work in my collection.

[spiral]

Lovely scabbard to have Russel! Congrats, it all helps bring the piece together.

quill work is quite rare indeed...

Clearly the right scabbard for that kukri & same era as well.

The Chapes not right & much later , but who cares?

love the strap & side scabbard work particularly!

Thanks for sharing!

spiral

[kronckew]

the blade shape of the ivory one reminds me of my salyan khukuri: (landscape is of Salyan in Nepal)

[archer burak]

Originally Posted by kronckew

the blade shape of the ivory one reminds me of my salyan khukuri: (landscape is of Salyan in Nepal)

exelent pieces cong...