Palm Leaf Manuscript Foldable Stylus Knife

A. G. Maisey · 15th September 2013, 10:13 PM

I have a knife that to my uneducated eyes appears to be the same, or at least very similar to this type of knife. I bought it many years ago, and it was offered for sale with one that had an ivory handle, which I did not buy. Bought from an elderly middle eastern gentleman who told me it was a carpet maker's knife. Later a pocket knife collector told me the same thing.

However, that said, it does seem more logical that it is a scribe's knife.

laEspadaAncha · 15th September 2013, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich

I have seen several of these offered on ebay as "rug weaver's knives". Is there any truth to that story? It seemed a bit strange to me whenever I read that. Glad to know what they were actually used for.

Rich

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I have a knife that to my uneducated eyes appears to be the same, or at least very similar to this type of knife. I bought it many years ago, and it was offered for sale with one that had an ivory handle, which I did not buy. Bought from an elderly middle eastern gentleman who told me it was a carpet maker's knife. Later a pocket knife collector told me the same thing.

However, that said, it does seem more logical that it is a scribe's knife.

Hi Rich & Alan,

These are fairly easily found along the Malabar coast of India, where they are described as being used as scribes' knives (for banana leaves IIRC).

That being said, I 've carried a pocket knife/folder for a good 36 years conservatively - and I can't imagine prescribing (just) a singular use for one... They're tools, with implements that can serve a number of functions, limited in the end only by their build quality and the ingenuity of the user! I can easily envision how a carpet maker - or any weaver for that matter - might find that stylus useful.

Cheers,
Chris

olaicollector · 15th September 2013, 11:50 PM

Kudos Chris!

That is absolutely correct. For the life of me, I could never really understand why they were classified as Rug Weaver's tools until I saw a few of these so-called tools. They look somewhat similar, but without the knife and hence I can envision some weaver picking up one of these to use. But rest assured, they are definitely a scribe's tool and hence used for writing. I'll follow up with some illustrations on how they are actually used with pictures. As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words!

And to add some more visual, I suggest anyone who wants to know more about Palm Leaf Manuscripts and these knives to watch Dr. Perumal's lecture. He is the one of the foremost expert on these tools and Palm Leaf Manuscripts in India. He heads one of the largest Manuscript Libraries in India. The video is available here on youtube, and yes it is in English :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-paJ1ORCHls

Cheers,

Ram

15th September 2013, 10:13 PM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	I have a knife that to my uneducated eyes appears to be the same, or at least very similar to this type of knife. I bought it many years ago, and it was offered for sale with one that had an ivory handle, which I did not buy. Bought from an elderly middle eastern gentleman who told me it was a carpet maker's knife. Later a pocket knife collector told me the same thing. However, that said, it does seem more logical that it is a scribe's knife.

15th September 2013, 11:50 PM	#3
olaicollector Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 8	Kudos Chris! That is absolutely correct. For the life of me, I could never really understand why they were classified as Rug Weaver's tools until I saw a few of these so-called tools. They look somewhat similar, but without the knife and hence I can envision some weaver picking up one of these to use. But rest assured, they are definitely a scribe's tool and hence used for writing. I'll follow up with some illustrations on how they are actually used with pictures. As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words! And to add some more visual, I suggest anyone who wants to know more about Palm Leaf Manuscripts and these knives to watch Dr. Perumal's lecture. He is the one of the foremost expert on these tools and Palm Leaf Manuscripts in India. He heads one of the largest Manuscript Libraries in India. The video is available here on youtube, and yes it is in English : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-paJ1ORCHls Cheers, Ram