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Kukri Machete with Water-buffalo horn handle and dragon engraving

I bought this kukri at a yard sale and am trying to find info on it. The only info I was able to find is saying that it might be from the mid 20th century and is refereed to as "garuda" other than that I know nothing.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on August 11, 2015 at 16:23

Adam- took the liberty of posting your pics

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on August 11, 2015 at 17:19

Adam-- I am far from an authority on kukris, but here goes--The information I have gathered suggests that this is more appropriately called a Naga style kukri-

Garuda- represents usually a giant bird/man-bird/ or flying dragon

Naga-represents a snake/ dragon figure

The snake-like figure was often represented as the guardian of doors & entrances

My best guess as to age is probably post WWII, 60's or early 1970's. However, could be as early as 1920's- 30s. Don't know what you paid for it, but probably worth a whole bunch more-- Yours is kind of unusual-- Animal head and blade engraved kukris were not normally used in combat, but were often presentation pieces as awards for military service--Yours has a very fine animal head pommel, but has a kind of mediocre engraving compared to the other blade etches I have seen on these pieces- Thus the ??-- I would recommend visiting here- These folks collect vintage kukris, and know of minor nuances I do not-- Great find IMHO-

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?137-The-Antique-K...

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Permalink Reply by Adam Archer on August 12, 2015 at 0:42

wow! thank you so much for the info! The person I bought it from thought it was a junk Chinese fantasy sword and sold it to me for $5. It won't be leaving my collection as I think its very very cool.

John McCain said:

Adam-- I am far from an authority on kukris, but here goes--The information I have gathered suggests that this is more appropriately called a Naga style kukri-

Garuda- represents usually a giant bird/man-bird/ or flying dragon

Naga-represents a snake/ dragon figure

The snake-like figure was often represented as the guardian of doors & entrances

My best guess as to age is probably post WWII, 60's or early 1970's. However, could be as early as 1920's- 30s. Don't know what you paid for it, but probably worth a whole bunch more-- Yours is kind of unusual-- Animal head and blade engraved kukris were not normally used in combat, but were often presentation pieces as awards for military service--Yours has a very fine animal head pommel, but has a kind of mediocre engraving compared to the other blade etches I have seen on these pieces- Thus the ??-- I would recommend visiting here- These folks collect vintage kukris, and know of minor nuances I do not-- Great find IMHO-

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?137-The-Antique-K...