Kukri from Birmingham (UK) antique arms fair.

[Marc M.]

This kukri is my most recent purchase, inspired by David's kukri I started looking for a kukri with a blade of this quality. Kukri's plenty on the net but mostly for those who travel and want a memento. This is the first one with a very good forged blade I have found for a reasonable price. The others I have are ok but have a standard simple blade. This one also has the nice rounded back versus the broken back of the more recent ones. The scabbard is in poor condition with remnants of a blue fabric. Could it be a kothimora kukri? Oal 46cm, blade length 35.5cm. No idea of age. Comments welcome.
Regards Marc

[BBJW]

Not a Kothimora. Likely post WW1.-- bbjw

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by BBJW

Not a Kothimora. Likely post WW1.-- bbjw

Thanks for your response, correct me if I am wrong, but in my opinion that what makes it a kothimora is the quality workmanship of the sheath, and a good blade which this ang khola is. There is not much left of the sheath outside of some leftover blue fabric so no idea if there were ever silver pieces on it. Probably a kukri for those who could afford it and belonged to their status at the time. Happy with the estimate of between the two world wars.
Best regards
Marc

[Battara]

Kothimora seem to be blinged out with silver (sometimes with gold too), given to a commander upon retirement or as a gift from the unit. Here is my example

[RobT]

BBJW,
I’m not saying that your age estimate is incorrect but I don’t see anything about this khukri that couldn’t be pre WW!. The blade profile is excellent and the cho and sword of Siva are well cut. From what I can see of the peaked spine, it is well done also and the ferrule is steel. I don’t know when the Ang Khola fullering was developed but if it started between the wars, then that would serve to give an earliest date to the piece. Another clue would be the size of the blade (as measured in a straight line from the center of the blade at the ferrule to the tip). Older blades tended to be larger.

Marc M,
That isn’t a kothimari hilt and ferrule on your khukri. The hilt on David R’s would be would be more in line with a kothimari although it would very likely have some decorative carving on it. Likewise, the ferrule and butt cap would likely be more decorated and the but cap would be pinned, not screwed.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by RobT

BBJW,
I’m not saying that your age estimate is incorrect but I don’t see anything about this khukri that couldn’t be pre WW!. The blade profile is excellent and the cho and sword of Siva are well cut. From what I can see of the peaked spine, it is well done also and the ferrule is steel. I don’t know when the Ang Khola fullering was developed but if it started between the wars, then that would serve to give an earliest date to the piece. Another clue would be the size of the blade (as measured in a straight line from the center of the blade at the ferrule to the tip). Older blades tended to be larger.

Marc M,
That isn’t a kothimari hilt and ferrule on your khukri. The hilt on David R’s would be would be more in line with a kothimari although it would very likely have some decorative carving on it. Likewise, the ferrule and butt cap would likely be more decorated and the but cap would be pinned, not screwed.

Sincerely,
RobT

Thank you for your info, my understanding of what the kothimora is have increased a bit again. With most of the kothimora I have seen ( internet) all have a richly worked scabbard, usually silver and a fairly simple handle, only a few times with a decorated handle, like Battara's specimen.
Best regards
Marc

[RobT]

Marc M.

I too have seen for sale rather pedestrian hilts (and blades for that matter) paired with kothimori sheaths but consider this, it is relatively simple to make a blingy sheath. It is quite another matter to make an elegant hilt with ornate furniture and even more difficult to make an elegant blade. I suspect that many online sellers have had kothimori sheaths made up for ordinary khukri in an effort to substantially bump up the price. I have in my collection a khukri with a tourist level blade (clumsy in profile and complete with the typical punched dot decoration). Its only redeeming feature is a rather simple but nicely done zinc and brass hilt. The khukri came with a kothimori style sheath. I only bought it because it was embarrassingly cheap and the blade had “BAHRAIN” inscribed on it. I believe that this khukri is a souvenir piece that was sold to a US soldier by an enterprising member of the Gurkha contingent in Bahrain. The sheath notwithstanding, it is not a kothimori by any stretch of the imagination.

Sincerely,
RobT

ps. By the way what is the length of your blade

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Battara

Kothimora seem to be blinged out with silver (sometimes with gold too), given to a commander upon retirement or as a gift from the unit. Here is my example

Impressive specimen, thanks for sharing.
Best regards
Marc