Tibetan style bladed kukri.

josh stout · 19th July 2007, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiral

...Iam not particularily expierieced at etching, Ive never used nitric acid, usualy just fruit juices & vinigar as i belive that what the Nepalis/Tibetans would most likely of used?

Spiral

That is something I would also like to know. I have used vinegar, and the colors came out right, but the pattern was much more subdued than on antiques.
Josh

spiral · 19th July 2007, 07:17 PM

Josh your obviously a serious affcentionado of this "Tibetan" type blade work do you have any book or online sources to reccomend ? {i have read the Lee Jones informative pages.} And do you/have you find any/many references to kukri in Tibet?

As well as age I am wondering if Tibetan smiths made kukris or if some apparently Tibetan work might in fact also be eastern Nepali? {Perhaps Limbu.} It appears the Naga in Assam possibly used the same techniques unless they stole/traded the steel.

Spiral

josh stout · 20th July 2007, 03:26 PM

Well the best general source on Tibetan blades is LaRocca's "Warriors of the Himalayas" the catalogue of the Met's exhibition of the same name. There is also the paper by Phuntsho Rapten "Patag-the symbol of heroes" which has fascinating cultural info on Bhutanese swords, but I checked it and there is nothing on etching. I have been looking at Google books for 19th C. stuff on China and Tibet, but it is mostly background with little information on swords.

As for kukri, this one came as a complete surprise to me. It was a blade type I had not even thought about in relation to Tibet, and so I have seen very few pictures of them. I tend to focus more on the Tibetan Chinese border area. The whole Tibetan thing started for me as a sideline to my interest in Chinese swords.

I have a couple of pieces in my collection of Chinese swords with Tibetan folding, so seeing the same thing at the Western border of Tibet would not surprise me. My suspicion is that Tibetan smiths, who were renowned for their ironwork, made pieces in the styles of bordering regions. What I would love to know is whether the smiths set up shop in the border areas, or whether they just exported stuff. I suspect that in many cases the smiths exported themselves, and used Tibetan techniques to produce blades in the style of the region they were living in, with the exception of blades actually made in Tibet for export. Usually what I take to be export blades are completely Tibetan in form, but with another region's fittings. On the other hand blades that I see in the style of a bordering region with Tibetan style folding I take to have been made in the border region by a Tibetan smith. I don't know how one could be sure though. It just seems like a reasonable explanation for what I see.
Josh

spiral · 23rd July 2007, 10:15 AM

Thanks for the book reference & sharing your thoughts on the possibilitys Josh.

Its appreciated.

Spiral

19th July 2007, 07:17 PM	#2
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Josh your obviously a serious affcentionado of this "Tibetan" type blade work do you have any book or online sources to reccomend ? {i have read the Lee Jones informative pages.} And do you/have you find any/many references to kukri in Tibet? As well as age I am wondering if Tibetan smiths made kukris or if some apparently Tibetan work might in fact also be eastern Nepali? {Perhaps Limbu.} It appears the Naga in Assam possibly used the same techniques unless they stole/traded the steel. Spiral

20th July 2007, 03:26 PM	#3
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	Well the best general source on Tibetan blades is LaRocca's "Warriors of the Himalayas" the catalogue of the Met's exhibition of the same name. There is also the paper by Phuntsho Rapten "Patag-the symbol of heroes" which has fascinating cultural info on Bhutanese swords, but I checked it and there is nothing on etching. I have been looking at Google books for 19th C. stuff on China and Tibet, but it is mostly background with little information on swords. As for kukri, this one came as a complete surprise to me. It was a blade type I had not even thought about in relation to Tibet, and so I have seen very few pictures of them. I tend to focus more on the Tibetan Chinese border area. The whole Tibetan thing started for me as a sideline to my interest in Chinese swords. I have a couple of pieces in my collection of Chinese swords with Tibetan folding, so seeing the same thing at the Western border of Tibet would not surprise me. My suspicion is that Tibetan smiths, who were renowned for their ironwork, made pieces in the styles of bordering regions. What I would love to know is whether the smiths set up shop in the border areas, or whether they just exported stuff. I suspect that in many cases the smiths exported themselves, and used Tibetan techniques to produce blades in the style of the region they were living in, with the exception of blades actually made in Tibet for export. Usually what I take to be export blades are completely Tibetan in form, but with another region's fittings. On the other hand blades that I see in the style of a bordering region with Tibetan style folding I take to have been made in the border region by a Tibetan smith. I don't know how one could be sure though. It just seems like a reasonable explanation for what I see. Josh

23rd July 2007, 10:15 AM	#4
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Thanks for the book reference & sharing your thoughts on the possibilitys Josh. Its appreciated. Spiral