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Description

Long knife (part a), whittling knife (part b) and scabbard (part c). Long knife has a deer horn hilt carved into the profile of a bird’s head. Hourglass-like designs and curvilinear motifs incised throughout. Protruding from the top of the bird’s head and the beak are sections of short black and red hair. Hole drilled through pronounced nostrils, for hanging or attachment purposes. Hilt grip covered with woven band of rattan. The blade is convex on one side, slightly concave on the other, and widens from the hilt. Tip is angled. The whittling knife has a small curved blade attached to a long, slightly curved handle. Blade end of hilt decorated with a wide band of braided metal. Blades of both knifes are secured to hilts with resin. The scabbard is composed of a wood sheath for the long knife and a bark sheath for the whittling knife. Wood sheath made of two pieces of wood bound together with rattan. Ties alternate between single dyed strands and thick decorative bands. Bands, woven with naturally coloured and dyed strands, consist of “X”-shaped designs, concentric circles and knots. Wood is painted dark red and has incised motifs, matching designs on long knife hilt, throughout. Bark sheath is undecorated and secured to wood sheath with plain rattan ties. Braided rattan carrying cord, with looped end, threaded through bark sheath.

Narrative

Collected in Sarawak Malaysia by Grace Chatter, the mother of Ross Lea's wife, Jacqollyne. Grace (nee Soh) was born in Malaysia at the beginning of the last century, and was the daughter of a wealthy gold miner in Sarawak. She married a man from the British consulate, and brought the collection with her when she moved to Canada in her senior years.