Mystery "Kollam" knife...

anvilring · 7th June 2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks for the help. Do you/can you give me a link to that forum post?, where the "heart shaped" blade was discussed?

Its pretty obvious this was made for the tourist trade; otherwise, why stamp it in english complete with a bizarre ampersand.

Definitely made for outsiders.

Many of these tourist blades I think, would have to resemble some ethnic blade of local use, i.e. machetes from So. America, kindals from the Caucusses etc.

So my questions are; what was this used for?, and when was it made?

Did it really come FROM Kollam?, or could it be a fake tourist blade?? representing something from the 19th cen. tourist trade?

Rick · 7th June 2009, 04:38 PM

I highly doubt this is a Tourist Piece ....

Are the fittings Silver ?

The workmanship seems top notch .
Possibly a sacrificial knife ??

No one is going to stab with this blade; it seems much more suited to chopping or slashing; but a bit small for a Machete .
If I had to guess age ; late 19th - mid 20th C.

I'll see if I can hunt up that thread, but after finding out this blade is from India it kind of throws that idea out of consideration ....

I expect the stamping at the forte is British Colonial influenced ; therefore the Western style of mark .

Poor wandering thread; I think It should go to Ethnographic .
We will get more input there I think .

Here is the link to the discussion .

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=kerala

Best,
Rick

Rick · 7th June 2009, 04:57 PM

Anvilring,
Here is the link to the knife I referred to .
I think this might cloud the issue a bit; I don't think there is any correlation between them .

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=trousse

Rick · 8th June 2009, 02:51 PM

Bump .

7th June 2009, 04:38 PM	#2
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	I highly doubt this is a Tourist Piece .... Are the fittings Silver ? The workmanship seems top notch . Possibly a sacrificial knife ?? No one is going to stab with this blade; it seems much more suited to chopping or slashing; but a bit small for a Machete . If I had to guess age ; late 19th - mid 20th C. I'll see if I can hunt up that thread, but after finding out this blade is from India it kind of throws that idea out of consideration .... I expect the stamping at the forte is British Colonial influenced ; therefore the Western style of mark . Poor wandering thread; I think It should go to Ethnographic . We will get more input there I think . Here is the link to the discussion . http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=kerala Best, Rick Last edited by Rick; 7th June 2009 at 04:50 PM.

7th June 2009, 02:32 PM	#1
anvilring Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 5	Thanks for the help. Do you/can you give me a link to that forum post?, where the "heart shaped" blade was discussed? Its pretty obvious this was made for the tourist trade; otherwise, why stamp it in english complete with a bizarre ampersand. Definitely made for outsiders. Many of these tourist blades I think, would have to resemble some ethnic blade of local use, i.e. machetes from So. America, kindals from the Caucusses etc. So my questions are; what was this used for?, and when was it made? Did it really come FROM Kollam?, or could it be a fake tourist blade?? representing something from the 19th cen. tourist trade?

7th June 2009, 04:57 PM	#3
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	Anvilring, Here is the link to the knife I referred to . I think this might cloud the issue a bit; I don't think there is any correlation between them . http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=trousse

8th June 2009, 02:51 PM	#4
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	Bump .