Sinhalese Piha Kaetta knife

A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.

Details of this item

Price

€ 1.400

Status

Available

Region

South Asia (India, Sri-Lanka)
(Kandy Kingdom, Sri Lanka)

Period

18th/19th century

Materials

Iron, Steel, Silver, Brass, Coral (Antipathes orichalcea), Horn (non-CITES)

Price

€ 1.400

Status

Available

Region

South Asia (India, Sri-Lanka)

(Kandy Kingdom, Sri Lanka)

Period

18th/19th century

Materials

Iron, Steel, Silver, Brass, Coral (Antipathes orichalcea), Horn (non-CITES)

Description

The ‘Piha Kaetta’ is the traditional dagger of Sri Lanka. The most elaborate examples were made during the reign of the Kandy Kingdom, in the royal workshops where most lavishly decorated weaponry was made. The Kandy workshops made specifically for the Kandy court, but there also was a market for luxury exchanges with European traders, such as the Dutch East India Company.

The design is nearly always similar and has a rather thick, single edge blade, shaped like a chopper. The blade is integrated with the hilt in a thick ferrule of brass or silver with precious metal inlays. The ferrule is lavishly chiseled in floral motives altered with inlayed silver. The hilt is made of a composition of coral and buffalo horn carved with outmost precision and decorated with a silver richly ornamented cap, riveted with brass and silver. The forte and fuller of the blade are covered with a sheet of silver which is embedded in a chiseled surface depicting scrolls of foliage.

A wonderful example of a ‘Piha Kaetta’ to believes to be made within the royal workshops due to its magnificent chisel work and fine crafted silver cap.

Sinhalese Piha Kaetta knife

Condition

Good condition, no scabbard.

Dimensions

Hilt length: 12.8cm

Blade length: 17cm

Blade spine thickness: 9mm

Total length: 27cm

Weight

279g.

Comparable items

The Metropolitan Museum of Arts New York acc. nr. 20.138.3a, b

Provenance

The German art market

Literature

Ravinder Reddy’s ‘Arms and Armour of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka’ p.342

A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.
A Piha Kaetta dagger from the royal Kandy workshops with silver cap and coral and horn hilt. Sri Lanka, former Ceylon late 18th to early 19th century.