Kukri for comments from Kathmandu

[Al Shamal]

Salam,

A brief holiday earlier in the year took me to Kathmandu, Nepal and some surrounding areas. I have wanted a kukri for some time and this was a good opportunity to gain a 'souvenir'. After searching through many shops and markets (mostly full of tourist junk), i eventually settled on this... Would be interested in comments on the age, style and quality, etc

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
First of all welcome to the Forum, as nice a bunch of eccentrics as you'll ever meet. I would suggest there is a mis-match here. The scabbard looks to be of much better quality than the blade and probably older, the sizes don't match either I'm afraid. I hesitate to comment any more as this is not really my area but hopefully Spiral will chime in and give you his thoughts. Hope this is of some use.
Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Use the search function for Kothimora and you will see examples of scabbards like yours and the type of blades that should go with them.

[Al Shamal]

Shokran Norman, I thought this might be the case also
Will await further comments

[Battara]

I agree - the two don't match up (in fact I am surprised that the blade fits in the scabbard at all ). I like the nice kothimora scabbard though. Would you folks suggest it was made in the 1930s or later?

[Berkley]

I respectfully disagree. Kothimoras are simply kukris with ornamented scabbards. Like all kukris, they come in varying degrees of quality in terms of materials and workmanship. There are lots of these "village kothimoras" to be found, more so than the "palace kothimoras" with their exquisite workmanship and exotic handle material coupled with precious-metal fittings.

Look closely and the "silver" elements, if silver at all, are low-grade - if not German silver or just "white metal". The "golden" ornaments may be brass or gold plated, but certainly not solid gold. Small semi-precious stones - or glass - add to the rustic elegance.

The blade of the kukri in the original post is too short for the scabbard, but may have been reground and shortened when the tip was damaged.

[not2sharp]

Berkley,

The handle has either been damaged or replaced. The original handle may have been a better match with that sheath.

n2s

[Battara]

Hhhmmmmmm................you have a point Berkley. I guess I was thrown off by the quality of the hilt and the way it was on the blade: the gap between the blade and the hilt.

[spiral]

Good souvenier!

Personaly I think its not the original kukri as the spine shape doesnt match the scabbard.

Id guess its post ww2.

With old kukri, non matching scabbards & kukris are virtualy the norm in Nepal, both in the villages & amongst the city dealers, market traders. {its a common occurance amongst dealers & collectors in the west as well.}

spiral

[Al Shamal]

Shokran All

Berkley, your picture posts were very helpful along with everybodies comments.
I believe the sheath to be silver and the gold is "leaf". The blade/s fit ok into the sheath, although the inside is quite well worn (to be expected).
It was the rustic kothimora sheath that drew me to it