A recent auction pick-up—? piha kaetta

[Ian]

This one comes from an auction that ended recently. It was listed as an old Burmese knife. It does not look like any Burmese knife that I have seen, but it does resemble an old piha kaetta from Sri Lanka. A year or so ago I posted pictures of a plain pia kaetta that lacked the precious metal adornments or handle of expensive materials. It was identified as a low caste version of the knife, rather than the more commonly seen old versions for the nobilityn and ariistocrats of Sri Lankan culture. The knife shown here seems to fall in between the upper class versions and those used by commoners.

An overall view of the knife shows that it has a blade and hilt that are commonly found on piha kaetta. The old blade has been cleaned to reveal some old carved designs at forte, and there is widespread light pitting consistent with an 18th C knife (although it could be later). The hilt is of a recurved shape and was probably carved from elephant material. The end of the hilt is not visible to determine whether the tang is full length.

Your ideas and opinions are very welcome.


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