Jerseyman
5th September 2016, 01:00 PM
A recent acquisition. The dealer had it listed as a knobkerrie, but my instinct is that it's an Ula. Would be delighted if the experts could confirm one way or the other.
The patina is much darker and even than it looks in the photos. The upper shaft has a pleasing, subtle, diagonal tiger-stripe effect of dark/golden when angled in the light. The hand-grip carving is very worn compared to a lot I've seen. There is a random sequence of punched dots on the shaft, the pommel and the head. There are also, for want of a better word, wrinkles (not cracks) on the side of the head that seem to go with the grain.
What looks like white dust in the grip carving is simply light reflection.
It's not large, so perhaps a hunting version?
All thoughts welcome.
Dimensions
Length - 15.75in/400mm
Shaft width base - 1in/26mm
Shaft width mid - 0.8in/22mm
Shaft width top - 1.75in/44mm
Length head - 3in/76mm
Width head base - 3in/76mm
Weight - 1lb2oz/500g
The patina is much darker and even than it looks in the photos. The upper shaft has a pleasing, subtle, diagonal tiger-stripe effect of dark/golden when angled in the light. The hand-grip carving is very worn compared to a lot I've seen. There is a random sequence of punched dots on the shaft, the pommel and the head. There are also, for want of a better word, wrinkles (not cracks) on the side of the head that seem to go with the grain.
What looks like white dust in the grip carving is simply light reflection.
It's not large, so perhaps a hunting version?
All thoughts welcome.
Dimensions
Length - 15.75in/400mm
Shaft width base - 1in/26mm
Shaft width mid - 0.8in/22mm
Shaft width top - 1.75in/44mm
Length head - 3in/76mm
Width head base - 3in/76mm
Weight - 1lb2oz/500g