Lot 49C
South Asia, Sri Lanka, ca. 18th century CE. A piha kaetta, a dagger-like knife native to Sri Lanka. The blade is steel, sharpened on one side, and slightly downcurved along its lower third. Thin silver filigree is inlaid onto the upper portion of the blade, including in a long, rounded depression that runs just below the unsharpened edge of the blade. Gold and silver filigree forms the lower part of the handle, shaped into flourishes and swirls; above this is ivory, which composes roughly half of the handle, and is similarly carved to have sinuous curls. The top of the ivory is capped by a folded-over sheet of repousse silver, which continues the ornate curved motifs. The sheath is made of dark wood, with repousse sheet silver at top and bottom. Size with sheath: 1.55" W x 11.4" H (3.9 cm x 29 cm)
Fine, decorated piha kaetta like this one traditionally were made in four different workshops in Sri Lanka, each part of a hereditary guild of craftsmen who created fine items for royalty and elites. They were worn by princes and nobles for self-defense, hunting, and ostentatious ornamentation. They were popular from the 16th to 18th century, a time when daggers and knifes were made to be graceful, beautiful, and deadly throughout the Islamic world, the Mughal Empire, and adjacent areas, like Sri Lanka, which was an independent kingdom during this time.
Provenance: ex-private old New Hampshire, USA collection
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#132283
- Condition: Rich patina on surface, especially on the ivory handle. Wooden sheath has some stable cracks down its length. End of sheath has some slight bending to silver.
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