Knife

Kawali

Note: The following text is taken from a 19th-century collection catalog and, in its language and perspective, partially reflects colonial thought patterns. We present the text in its original version to make the collection's history transparent and promote a critical examination of the colonial legacy. Certain terms and formulations may be perceived as problematic today. A 2009 research project concluded that most descriptions are factually correct and still usable; only a few details were found to be inaccurate or incorrect. The results of this project were published in the following collection catalog: https://khm-wmw-tm-library.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1457155265

"79-80. Knives - "Kawali".
These knives are not so much used as weapons but rather for household work. They are carried on the belt like the kris, and this usually by a common man who has to carry out different jobs in the house and in the field, while the privileged man, who never works, only carries his kris or tappi in his belt. The form of the blade varies greatly, the most usual is one where the lower part at the hilt is narrow while in the middle it is at its most broad, and then suddenly or gradually tapers to the point. The blades are either of smooth or also of damascened steel. The hilt of wood or bone is at a blunt angle to the cutting edge of the knife. The sheath in which the blade rests is of wood, usually very simple, made from two little boards bound together with rattan work, often decorated with silver rings and silver platelets. The two knives here have damascened blades of different sizes, simple wooden sheaths tied together with rattan and simple wooden handles."

Translation of: Czurda, F. A. J. (1883). Catalog mit Erklärungen der Etnografischen Privatsammlung des Dr. F. A. J. Czurda in Postelberg (Böhmen). (p. 18). Wien, Wilhelm Braumüller