Curious Kastane - Thoughts?

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

It looks too worn/polished to be recent Chinese...but it could be...

Its amazing what a machine buffer will wear away & polish.... .

Could be Indian but looks to my eye to be made by someone, just copying something they had no conception off. Looks Chinese to my eye, but I think the Indian would do it better... But I could be wrong.

I seem to recall Gavin had valuable input on the Kastane? & has seem many fakes in the auctions he peruses as well.

Hopefully he will look in.

Spiral

[derek]

Well,
I decided to go back to the seller and ask him for more details about this thing. Turns out it was part of a lot that was sold for a widow who brought it back from Sri Lanka with her husband some years ago. Apparently they had some difficulty getting their purchases shipped back at that time.

So, I have seen a piha that I was pretty certain was a later reproduction. By that I mean produced sometime after 1815 and the disbanding of the Royal Workshops. If the information is accurate, this would be the first kastane that I would call a later tourist repro from Sri Lanka, but it is true enough to the originals in form and detail that I could believe it.

The pics aren't doing it justice. It's a pretty little wall hanger.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Please see library for Kastane ...or hit http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=kastane

[David]

Derek, i'm pretty sure you are on the right track viewing this example as a later tourist quality repro. I think that if you spend enough time looking at actual kastane in the thread Ibrahiim just linked to you will see that the level of attention to detail in the real kastanes seen there is far more intensive than the hilt details on your example. While the blades on true kastane are often not of high quality, being meant mostly for status display, the dress is usually impeccably detailed and of a very high level of craftsmanship. Ibrahiim suggested the possibility that this could be a dance kastane for belly dancing, but that seems highly unlikely to me. Pictures can be deceptive, but i just don't see that your example could possibly have the kind of balance necessary for use in belly dancing where the back edge of the sword is balances on the head, hips, etc. during the act of the dance. Those blades are also generally longer and curved as Ibrahiim has already pointed out. But as you say, it should be a very nice wall hanger.

[derek]

Hi David,
Agreed. Belly Dancing swords are normally curved for balancing on the head.

Keep in mind the example in the thread above is off the charts in terms of detail and quality. Artzi has offered a few that were close to that quality in the past, but you don't see them often. Most are of the more average kind.

I have owned 2 other kastanes that are much more typical (still have one) and they are plain by comparison. Still beautiful, but far less ornate. In fact, I saw this week that there is a very typical example on auction now.

I also currently have 25 piha kaetta of various sizes and quality. I started the pihakaetta.com site years ago, when I had time for that stuff
Some are so ornate and delicate that I hate to handle them. Others are more plain and "utilitarian" by comparison. The quality of the work on them also varies - some, not a lot.

Among that lot I have a few I would describe as weirdos. They just don't seem to represent the Sinhalese art form, but one of those was purchased directly from a gallery in Colombo, and the blade is definitely old. Old stuff can't talk, so we play detective, which is half the fun.

Jim, great thread, I was reading through it earlier this week.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

[derek]

Jim,
I noted that you reference Medieval Sinhalese Art", (A.K. Coomaraswany, 1956)
in that post. I remember getting 2 copies of that from the book shop in Sri Lanka and passed one along to a forumite. Was that you?
It's probably been a decade and I've slept (although not enough - 4 kids) since then.

[David]

Originally Posted by derek

I also currently have 25 pita kaetta of various sizes and quality. I started the pihakaetta.com site years ago, when I had time for that stuff

Yes Derek, i am very aware (and a bit envious) of your excellent collection of piha kaetta. If ever there was a blade i could get addicted to collecting besides the keris it would be those which is probably why i have resisted picking one up so far. I'm afraid that once i started i would not be able to stop.

[derek]

Wife: "How many of these is enough?"
Me:"Just one more "