Exceptionaly rare knife from Formosa/Taiwan

yuanzhumin · 25th March 2006, 04:00 PM

Hello

I wanted to share this piece just arrived into my collection and see if one of you had any additional infos on it.

This is an exceptionally rare ceremonial bronze and iron knife from the Paiwan tribe. I personally think that there are only few dozens of them left.

The following comments are copied from the digital on line Museum of Taiwan. I attached hereunder 4 photos of my knife and then one (the 5th) of the knife displayed on the website of the digital Museum of Taiwan.

Mine is a shorter with the following dimensions : 19x5 cm

Bronze knife (comments from the museum)

Introduction
Bronze knives, azure stone beads and ceramic pots are the “three treasures” of the Paiwan tribe. In earlier days these items would only be owned by chiefs or higher-class people and were usually passed down from ancestors. Usually these sacred items would not be touched casually by ordinary people and would only be shown during the special ceremony held every five years.
??The Paiwan today only know that the bronze knives were passed down from their ancestors and were sacred. Taiwan does not have the tin needed to make bronze and none of the aborigine tribes possessed bronze making technology, so some scholars believe the bronze knives originated in the Dongshan civilization of Vietnam because of their shape and material.

Shape
Bronze handle and iron blade. The handle is human head shaped. The head is decorated with five joined small heads. On the lower part of the handle and where it joins the handle there are joined triangles shapes carved in. The blade is iron. The upper part has a waist and the lower part is a double-edged blade.

Manufacturing method
Handle made of cast bronze. It is a double edged blade made from worked iron.

Function and use
Bronze knives are different to domestic use knives or fighting knives. They had no practical function and were a sacred item. They were representative of position and status. They would only be displayed during the once-every-five-year ceremony.

25th March 2006, 04:00 PM	#1
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	Exceptionaly rare knife from Formosa/Taiwan Hello I wanted to share this piece just arrived into my collection and see if one of you had any additional infos on it. This is an exceptionally rare ceremonial bronze and iron knife from the Paiwan tribe. I personally think that there are only few dozens of them left. The following comments are copied from the digital on line Museum of Taiwan. I attached hereunder 4 photos of my knife and then one (the 5th) of the knife displayed on the website of the digital Museum of Taiwan. Mine is a shorter with the following dimensions : 19x5 cm Bronze knife (comments from the museum) Introduction Bronze knives, azure stone beads and ceramic pots are the “three treasures” of the Paiwan tribe. In earlier days these items would only be owned by chiefs or higher-class people and were usually passed down from ancestors. Usually these sacred items would not be touched casually by ordinary people and would only be shown during the special ceremony held every five years. ??The Paiwan today only know that the bronze knives were passed down from their ancestors and were sacred. Taiwan does not have the tin needed to make bronze and none of the aborigine tribes possessed bronze making technology, so some scholars believe the bronze knives originated in the Dongshan civilization of Vietnam because of their shape and material. Shape Bronze handle and iron blade. The handle is human head shaped. The head is decorated with five joined small heads. On the lower part of the handle and where it joins the handle there are joined triangles shapes carved in. The blade is iron. The upper part has a waist and the lower part is a double-edged blade. Manufacturing method Handle made of cast bronze. It is a double edged blade made from worked iron. Function and use Bronze knives are different to domestic use knives or fighting knives. They had no practical function and were a sacred item. They were representative of position and status. They would only be displayed during the once-every-five-year ceremony. Attached Images