Strange knife

Ian · 7th April 2024, 07:27 AM

This truly unusual knife is unknown to me. It was in an auction that ended today and was decribed as Indonesian. I doubt that attribution. Perhaps southern Asia or mainland SE Asia.

Ideas, thoughts, ???

.

Sajen · 8th April 2024, 08:08 AM

Hello Ian,

I think that it's a Southern Thai working knife for a special purpose. The handle is similar to the Thai rotan splitting knives.

Regards,
Detlef

JeffS · 8th April 2024, 11:47 AM

For the rattan knife, the flat base of the hilt is designed to rest against body of the user while drawing the rattan (or bamboo) with two hands to split it. If this is the case with Ian's knife, I wonder what material that blade profile could be designed for.

Klop · 8th April 2024, 08:01 PM

Lovely exotic knife! With some sort of psychological test included; just like the Batman logo where I see a mouth missing teeth, in this case there is a face in the "negative".

Kind regards,
Eric.

kino · 8th April 2024, 09:13 PM

How peculiar. I obtained this just few weeks ago.

Ian · 9th April 2024, 01:05 PM

Thanks Detlef and Erik. Yes there is certainly some resemblance to a rattan knife as used in Mainland SE Asia. I think kino's example is a variant of thjat style of knife.

My main thought was that this odd knife is another pu erh knife used for cutting and splitting a pu erh tea cake. The blade to cut the cake and the spike to pry off the desired amount of tea leaves from the compacted mass.

You may recall I had another "what'sit" a few months ago that turned out to be a pu erh knife.

BTW, I did not win this knife at auction.

7th April 2024, 07:27 AM	#1
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,023	Strange knife This truly unusual knife is unknown to me. It was in an auction that ended today and was decribed as Indonesian. I doubt that attribution. Perhaps southern Asia or mainland SE Asia. Ideas, thoughts, ??? . Attached Images Last edited by Ian; 8th April 2024 at 06:39 AM.

8th April 2024, 08:08 AM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,465	Hello Ian, I think that it's a Southern Thai working knife for a special purpose. The handle is similar to the Thai rotan splitting knives. Regards, Detlef Attached Images Last edited by Sajen; 8th April 2024 at 08:12 AM. Reason: add pic

8th April 2024, 08:01 PM	#4
Klop Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 57	Lovely exotic knife! With some sort of psychological test included; just like the Batman logo where I see a mouth missing teeth, in this case there is a face in the "negative". Kind regards, Eric. Attached Images

8th April 2024, 09:13 PM	#5
kino Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 971	How peculiar. I obtained this just few weeks ago. Attached Images

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8th April 2024, 11:47 AM	#3
JeffS Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 308	For the rattan knife, the flat base of the hilt is designed to rest against body of the user while drawing the rattan (or bamboo) with two hands to split it. If this is the case with Ian's knife, I wonder what material that blade profile could be designed for.

9th April 2024, 01:05 PM	#6
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,023	Thanks Detlef and Erik. Yes there is certainly some resemblance to a rattan knife as used in Mainland SE Asia. I think kino's example is a variant of thjat style of knife. My main thought was that this odd knife is another pu erh knife used for cutting and splitting a pu erh tea cake. The blade to cut the cake and the spike to pry off the desired amount of tea leaves from the compacted mass. You may recall I had another "what'sit" a few months ago that turned out to be a pu erh knife. BTW, I did not win this knife at auction.