21st June 2009, 11:39 AM | #1 |
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Pihiya Kaetta - any ideas about age?
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 |
21st June 2009, 12:42 PM | #2 |
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A nice old piece
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 |
22nd June 2009, 09:32 PM | #3 |
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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? |
22nd June 2009, 10:54 PM | #4 | |
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My first thoughts
Quote:
Gav |
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23rd June 2009, 03:01 AM | #5 |
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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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23rd June 2009, 11:35 AM | #6 | |
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Don't look too hard
Quote:
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. I am always open to other suggestions. Gav |
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23rd June 2009, 12:11 PM | #7 |
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The item in question, for future reference...
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23rd June 2009, 02:17 PM | #8 |
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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 |
23rd June 2009, 02:21 PM | #9 |
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Nice
Your a treasure!!!
Well noted. Gav |
23rd June 2009, 03:04 PM | #10 | |
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Another reference
Quote:
"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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23rd June 2009, 05:57 PM | #11 | |
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Quote:
All the best, Jim |
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23rd June 2009, 07:35 PM | #12 |
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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 |
24th June 2009, 07:39 AM | #13 |
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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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