Quote:
Originally Posted by Athanase
For me it's malaysian golok with imported blade from china.
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its not a golok, and not in any style of malay golok as such.
that blade is way smooth and nicely ground and struck to nicely to be a cheap Chinese imported item.
i see the rivet in the bolster. its odd.
you see thai items from the 60s onward with these pins in the bolster to hold the blade in, but its not a historical thing.... .. its just people forgot how to attach the handles precisely by burning and resin and began putting ins and glue.. you can see the pins in the bolsters appear in java in indonesia in the 80s too for the same reason- decline in skill in fitting the handles...
but this knife looks older than that.
the die is a factory made and crisp, a hot stamp die- there is also a logo.
the blade is a weird shape.. and not of any known style i recognise., the handle is like Meo and cambodian and some thai knives.
i have seen pre war japanese knives/machetes made to export to guam/carolineislands.. kiribas.. and also some to the philippines and thailand with japanese characters on them but these were all replicas of local knife types that the japanese traders (naval intel officers) opperating as merchants were offering to the locals along with other japanese wears made for the local market..
these traders were widespread in asia till the end of ww2 and gathered a great deal of intel and info about local ethnic groups in regions they operated in and offered japanese goods tailored to the local market,
those japanese factory made "bolos" do have japanese text on the blades.
this knife has an exotic look , the fact the bolster is pinned makes me think japan too. malays goofing up and pinning bolsters? no at least not until very very recently.
can we have more pictures.. the butt of the knife the scabbard the knife in the scabbard, thickness of the blade and so on.
im guessing japanese made.. for the thai market pre ww2.