A slightly unique Piha Kaetta

[A. G. Maisey]

Nope, looks like I was wrong.

Most generally used language in Sri Lanka is Sinhala, and it looks like adjectives precede nouns in Sinhala, so it would be gal mita piha and vak piha.

Also looks like "piha" is really "pihiya", but in speech the "--iy--" part of the word is not easily heard, it disappears into the "h" and the "a", similar to the way the "e" in "keris" is not heard and the word is heard as "kris".

[Jim McDougall]

Alan and Derek,
Thank you so much for the detailed and wonderfully explained material on these! It makes complete sense that this knife form has variations that might be rather tailored to different purposes, and the study in terminology is most interesting ( as we have discussed before Alan.

All best regards,
Jim

[A. G. Maisey]

unnecessary.

[fernando]

Hi Derek,
I once saw this in a 1989 auction catalogue.
This could be a lot of nonsense, but please take a look to it..

Please pay particular attention to the ( translated ) text on item 892.

888 is dated XVII-XVIII century. Chizeled metal grip.

889 is dated XVII-XVIII century. Rhino horn grip. Silver and brass insets. Rare.

890 is also dated XVII-XVIII century.Rhino horn grip with characteristic braking waves sculpted, a sign of Cingalo-Portuguese art. With unvulgar chizeled silver and brass insets.

891. specimen of unvulgar configuration. The grip pommel is a "goruda", identical to those sculpted in Cingalo-Portuguese firearms. Silver insets and brass sculpture. Very good quality and very rare.

892 Cingalese Pia-Kaetas descend from an Arian Indo-European race weapon of the second milenium BC, that has also being used in Portuguese territory: the famous Lusitanian Falcata. The most distant extremes of the Arian race were precisely Lusitania and Ceylon. It is curious that these two peoples, descent from the same ancestors, would meet again thousands of years afterwards. As life in an isolated island remains unchanged for vast periods of time, the use of these "Falcata like"
knives prevailed in Ceylon until recent centuries. The presented specimen has its ivory grip decorated with the typical braking waves, which can also be found in Cingalo-Portuguese sculptures. These waves can be seen in the hair of an ivory Little Jesus sculpture of the XVI-XVII century, also present in this auction.Silver and brass insets. With original scabbard.Rare.

[fernando]

continuing:

899. Cingalo-Portuguese Little Jesus. XVI-XVII century.It has the two main characteistics of eldest Cingalo-Portuguese art. The hair terminating in waves with breaking ends, as seen in Pia-Kaetas, and the nipples in the form of four pointed stars. Great rarity.

[fernando]

last one:

894. XVII-XVIII century.Grip sculpted in Rhino horn with silver insets. No brass in this specimen; only silver, rhino and steel. very good quality.

895. XVII-XVIII century. Ivory grip, with unvulgar curvature.Sculpted with the typical Cingalo-Portuguese braking waves. Very good condition and very rare.

896. XVII-XVIII centuryUnusually big.Cingalo-Portuguese braking waves both in the grip and brass decorations, as also found in christian ivory sculptures.. Chizeled silver pommel.

[derek]

Excellent pics, Thanks for posting. 893 is an odd one! The comparison between falcatta and more eastern weapons (the kukri for sure) is made often. The earliest celtic peoples of Europe are called indo-european, correct? I guess it's entirely plausible that the forms are related.
-d