With all the different hill tribes in the northern Thailand/golden triangle area, there seem to be a variety of styles. There are many different ethnic groups north of here, the Shan, Akha, Karen, Kachin, Tai, Yao, Hmong, Lisu, etc, Chiang Mai has been a trade and crafts center for hundreds of years so I a lot of different stuff made its way here (although it's pretty much picked over now. This elephant guy is maybe my favorite of the few knives I've collected here -- it's old, it's ivory, the carving is charming, and the scabbard is very nicely done as you mentioned. Looking at the amount of wear on the handle, it's possible the scabbard is not as old as the knife, although if it was made later, the person who did the work was very skilled, as it fits the blade like a glove.
The most common knives around here seem to be the plain bone or ivory handle types with the silver bolsters and matching silver foil scabbards, I see them for sale fairly often, along with the rattan-wrapped dha swords, which I see at the flea market all the time. The carved stuff, which I love, is much harder to turn up nowadays.
|
10th September 2012, 02:09 PM
Threaded Mode