Ceylon Piha-kaetta (?)

[wilked aka Khun Deng]

Just wanted to add a note of clarification here. I think I mentioned in a post sometime ago that I'd discussed piha-kaetta with a Sri Lankan I happened to sit with on a plane and after a bit he figured out what I was talking about (putting the two names together confused him).

He told me that "piha" and "kaetta" BOTH translate as "knife" however they are two separate languages one is Tamil and the other Sinhala. Since then and as recent as last month I've confirmed this with two other Sri Lankans.

While we as collectors have used the combination term piha-kaetta to define a certain style ether term used singly or in combination could be accurately used to describe any knife from Ceylon.

Dan

[Tatyana Dianova]

I vote for South India too; to be more specific, for Tamil Nadu.
I base my attribution on the handle decoration; the blade may be European. Alas, Spiral’s pictures are gone, but if I remember the details correctly, the handle ornaments are very similar to the traditional jewelry pieces of Tamil Nadu, as well as the Swami jewelry from Madras.
First, look at the gold Hindu marriage necklaces worn by Chettiar women in Tamil Nadu as the sign of marriage; it is removed upon being widowed. On the central ornament pendant the goddess Lakshmi is depicted, sometimes surrounded by the birds, apsaras, lions, yalis, etc. They look pretty similar to the top part of the dagger in question.

[Tatyana Dianova]

Now to the Swami jewelry. It is an Anglo-Indian hybrid style of jewelry that flourished from the middle of the 19 c. into the early 20 c. It was created mainly by P. Orr and Sons of Madras, Tamil Nadu. The local term “swami” means “god or goddess” and refers to the ornamentation of these pieces with images of the deities of Hindu pantheon. All of them were created in silver (sometimes gilt) or gold in the same technique as the dagger’s handle, i.e. cast and chased. Orr also manufactured dessert services, trays, spoons, presentation objects, etc with Indian motifs. All were essentially oriented towards Westerners. Below are some examples (alas, no Lakshmi among them…)
To me this dagger looks like a custom order made to Orr’s manufacture, but it is only a theory, of course…

[rand]

Seems that the evidence for the decorative motifs being Hindu are compeling and the shown jewelry from Tamil Nadu specific example of similar style work. Southern India also has many examples of a "cant" handle, many examples of upturned guard, many examples of cast silver handle, many examples of a straight double edged blade for a dagger, many examples of of Anglo European decoration. My feeling so far is that the style of art that most influenced this dagger most likely from Southern India.

That would brong us to a decision of most likely time period of manufacture. Using similar cast silver handles, scabbards as a guide such as those from Bhutan 18th century or late 17th century come to mind. The Anglo European motif go's back to at least 16th century on Indian daggers. The apparent low carot gold of the medalion seems last 18th-19th century. Whats your opinion of time period?

rand

[rand]

Shah Jahans dagger, 1620-1630 showing Anglo influence.... From Splendeurs des Arms Orientales, page 93.