ainu knife?

[Mytribalworld]

Originally Posted by pbleed

Forgive my slow response. Getting places that require a pass word are always a challenge to me.
I certainly agree that this knife is very nice and quite attractive. IMHO, however, it is NOT "Ainu." It may be inspired by Ainu pieces. And it sort of looks like Ainu material culture, but I am as sure as I can be that it is a LATE EDO piece - maybe a flower arranger's knife - made by a Japanese Netsuke carver for use by a Japanese. Late Edo period Japanese loved exotic ornaments - witness the Namban craze etc etc. Blades like this are hardly common, but I have seen a couple and they "feel" Japanese not Ainu. They are much more refined than real Ainu blades. Furthermore, they lack basic elements of Ainu craftsmenship - eg. 'bracket designs" and fish scale. The also often involved ivory (this one looks like antler, I agree) whihc would NOT be right for Ainu.
Peter

Many,many thanks Jim, Peter and Willem I didn't know very much about Ainu but after some hours googling and with your responses I begin to like Ainu stuff and culture more and more.

I must agree Peter that my first impression of the knife was that it had some Ainu features but had the look of a Japanese knife indeed.

maybe a flower arranger's knife
The blade what looks like it broken off should maybe be shortened to prevent that the point should cut the flowers/tree ,I suppose ?

I agree that Ainu carving looks different , however this has also that woven pattern.The rest looks more Japanese indeed.
What stays however is that the knife below wich has the same handle as my example ( on the pics Willem listed )is on display in an Ainu museum on Hokkaido. ( Nibutani Ainu cultural museum ,Hokkaido)
I don't know in how much Japanese material culture has entered the Ainu, or was it the Ainu culture that has inspired the first Japanese?
I heared that this fact was one of the reasons why Ainu people where discriminated. The Japanese don't like to hear that they are actually later settlers than the Ainu.

Arjan.