Temutik from Bali or Lombok
Code IN62
This knife is provisionally identified as a Temutik (Pemutik, Utik, tik) from either Bali or Lombok, Indonesia. It is a member of a class of small work knives that differ in many attributes based on the task at hand. The knife is shown in these pictures as received (dirty and the blade requiring some work to remove rust spots).
The overall length is 10 3/8 inches. The blade length is 4 5/8 inches, the first 1 5/8 inches are an unsharpened false edge. The thicknes of the blade is 3/8 inches, tapering distally to 1/8 inch along a straight top. The edge of the blade has a broad sharpened bevel grind on one side only, the other side is flat. Overall the cross-section of the blade is flat. The width of the blade broadens from 5/8 inch at hilt to 1 inch at the end of a false edge, then narrows as it sweeps upward to the tip. This false edge is blunted chisel grind.
The bolster is brass, in one piece roughly matching cross section of the hilt and with two raised ring portions nearest the hilt.
The hilt (hulu) length is 5 3/4 inches, with a cross section that is a flattened oval with edge along bottom aligned with the blade and rounded on top. The material is horn with slight greenish hue, probably water buffalo. The carved portion of the hilt is 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide at the widest portion.
The design motif of the hilt is floral, a variation called Lung-lungan (“vines”). This complex foliage design may have a number of talismanic values related to fertility depending on the society and context.
