What are these ?

[Ian]

Hi fenlander:

Well, the additional pictures show more of these knives and help a little. The Chinese knife appears to have some age, but I have not seen a similar knife before and really can't comment. You may have a nice old antique bronze knife -- that would be a pretty unusual find these days. Philip Thom or Scott Ridell could help you best -- drop them a PM.

The second one with the stag horn end of the handle is interesting. The square or rectangular guard and long iron ferrule suggest a Chinese influence to me. Perhaps southern China/Vietnam because there are various stag species in mainland Indochina and we have occasionally seen similar stag on pieces from Cambodia and Thailand. The V-shaped end of the ferrule might indicate a Vietnamese origin (see post below).

There is an Ayutthaya dha collected in Malaysia with an unusual stag handle that is being discussed in another thread currently. This knife might also be Thai, Lao or even Cambodian.

The third knife here obviously has some "after market" features in terms of the carving to the end of the hilt. Hard to give this one a clear provenance. The rest of the hilt still looks Philippine to me. There has been trade in edged weapons between Taiwan and the Philippines for a long time (not surprising given their close proximity). Taiwan tribal knives show up in Manila from time to time.

Ian.

Originally Posted by fenlander

More detailed pics of the Chinese sword that is really weird looking. Cuts into wood suprisingly well though I tried it on a broom handle
Also more detailed look (three pics each for the small two knives) of the first two small knives, and then the next post is the third one of the small knives.