Dha-hmyaung
 

Something completely different than what I normally collect, I found this on epray the other day right as the auction was ending. I placed a very modest bid on bid at the last minute and to my surprise ended up winning. The hilt unfortunately missing so I will have to find a piece of suitable material to make a replacement from. After searching the net and here I have seen quite a few of these and all of the ones with silver fittings like this have had their hilts made from ivory. My main question on this is, has anyone ever seen an example of one of these knife/daggers with silver fittings that has had a hilt made from any material other than ivory? On plainer examples I have seen both horn and bone hilts and even a few very plain examples with wooden hilts. These are the auction photos and I will be posting 9I hope) better ones after it arrives. Any comments on hilt materials, possible age or general comments on this piece would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Robert

Hi Robert:

Welcome to dha-land!

This knife comes from the Shan people of Burma and Southern Yunnan. Typically these have all silver clad or silver and ivory hilts, although other materials are found quite often (bone being the most common alternative).

The quality (percentage) of silver is variable, and most of these fittings are made up of thin silver sheet and fine silver wire on the scabbard with heavier silver sheet on the hilt. Battara could probably give you more accurate details of the methods used.

I suspect your example had an all silver covering over a wooden core into which the tang was fixed. The terminal silver piece may have been a mirror image of the piece adjacent to the blade or perhaps a small lotus bud. I will dig out some old pics and post them here for reference.

Ian.

Hello Ian,
And thank you very much for your thoughts on this. I forgot to mention when I first posted this knife that the seller stated to me that the original hilt was in fact made of ivory and was removed for that same reason a few years ago.:( When asked he would not elaborate on what happened to the ivory and would only say that he wished that it was still available. A silver hilt over a wooden core I think would be just as nice as the missing ivory one. As I have been working with silver for quite a few years it would most likely be much easier for me to make one in the manner you have described than it has been for me to locate a suitable piece of ivory to carve a new one from. I am really looking forward to seeing the photos of the silver hilted examples you have kindly offered to post. If you do not mind, would you care to offer your thoughts as to the possible age of this piece? Again, thank you again for your interest and help.

Best,
Robert

Robert,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Been busy with family stuff today.

Below are a few pictures of dha myaung, mostly from the Oriental Arms web site (apologies to Artzi Yarom), one or two of mine, and a few from other sources including the History of SE Asian Steel site. I have tried to show a range of styles that do not feature ivory--primarily silver clad hilts. For the point of discussion, I've classified the styles into "Burmese," "Thai," and "Lao." Even though these are probably all made by the Shan/Tai in the Golden Triangle area, those broad styles can be defined.

The first one is one of mine that has a copper/gold overlay on the wooden scabbard and hilt. These are old pictures that I posted here more than 10 years ago (sorry about the quality). I would call this one "Burmese" in style.

The next one is a fairly plain silver hilt and most likely Thai, but could be Burmese, in style. Most of the handle is wrapped in silver wire rather than silver sheet--the wire is more durable than the solid sheet, does not wrinkle or pleat, and is easier to replace if damaged.

The next two are Thai in style, each with a prominent ring (sub-hilt) about one-third of the way up the handle and a large lotus bud pommel. These pommels are quite common on silver-decorated Shan/Tai knives and swords.

The next one is very similar but has different decorations (spiral patterns) on the scabbard. It appears to be older than the other two with lotus pommels. The scabbard decoration strikes me as Lao more than Thai, but since the Lao are also ethnic Tai, and Lao styles have had a strong influence on Thai swords and knives, this may be splitting hairs.

The next one is not very old IMHO, and shows more of a Burmese style, with no sub-hilt or fancy lotus pommel.

The last one is probably second half of the 20th C, with heavily repoussed silver work, paneled "scenes," and spiral wire work near the toe of the scabbard, all of which are strong Lao features.

I hope these pics can help you with your decisions, Robert. You have a fair amount of variation in styles and complexity to choose from.

Your knife seems to have a degree of age to it. Based on others I have seen, I would say it probably has been around for about 100+/- years. It is a great pity that the ivory hilt was removed, but then it would have been much more expensive and you would not have the opportunity to bring it back to life.

Regards,

Ian.

Ian,
Thank you very much for the photos showing of some of the many different hilt styles that I now know were used on these interesting knives/daggers. As the one that I have acquired looks to originally have had a hilt the seller has described as being made from ivory (though I am starting to believe that it could have just as easily been made of bone) I think it would be best if I replaced it with one made from one of these two materials. If I cannot find a piece of ivory suitable for this at a price that I can afford then bone will be my second choice. My next question is if I were to use ivory, what type would originally have been most commonly used on these? The same question would also apply if I were to use bone. Thank you again for your help.

Best,
Robert

Hello Robert,

nearly all ivory hilts I have seen were from elephant ivory.

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Robert,

Thank you for sharing. That is correct this would have had a straight cylindrical ivory handle probably 4-5 inches long. There are some alternative ivory that knife makers used made out of different plastics. Or you could even look to see if you could use some type of antler, horn or bone. Or even just put some type of wood on there..you could even pick one with a slight yellow tinge to it so it would look like the aged ivory...the lines in the wood might even look like some of the age cracks you see in ivory as well.

There is a complete similar " Dha dagger" with bone handle and silver scabbard and pommel on e-bay now for $65.

Unless you wanted to buy an amusement project, I wouldn't see much reason in acquiring a broken thing and investing money and a lot of time to give it a semblance of authenticity. Thai professionals will always do a better job.

My 2 cents.

Hello Ariel, I would say the main reason for my acquiring a "broken thing" and investing my money and my time into giving it a semblance of authenticity again is that I would rather have an older example that needs a little work than a shiny new one made for the tourist market. I was also unaware that for someone be able to produce a small round rod shaped price of ivory or bone from a larger unworked piece required them to be born in a particular part of the world just to do an acceptable job of it.

Best,
Robert

Wish you luck with your restoration project.

Thanks, I'll probably need it.

I think it should be a fairly easy restoration.

Here are some examples

(credit: oriental arms and sword antique weapons)

Hello Nathaniel, The repair work itself will be very easy to do. The problem that I am having is just trying to find the material to do it with. :(

Best,
Robert

kansas? - bison bone?

Isn't hippo ivory completely "free" in the States? :shrug:

What about antler, with the rough outer taken down to the white layer. A friend of mine uses it as a substitute when replacing ivory sword grips.

Hello everyone, As I have been out taking care of a few things that because of the heat I had left unfinished I just now noticed your replies.

Kronckew and David, Yes because of my living in Kansas I have access to bison bone and horn, deer bone and antlers as well as cow bone and horn. None of these local materials would have originally used on this style of knife. I am actually trying to find a small piece of pre ban ivory to make a new hilt from. I would also consider using bone if someone could identify the type of bone that was originally used on these knives. Using the correct material is important to me when doing a repair like this. I do not mind using updated adhesives because of their better bonding qualities, but if at all possible I only use the same materials that were used when the piece was originally made.

Best,
Robert

Robert:

Bone would most likely have been water buffalo (same as for horn).

Ian

Hello Ian,
Thank you for the information as I now know that there were hilts made from ivory, water buffalo bone and silver over a wooden core. Do you know of any examples of a dha like mine (silver over wood) where the hilt was made of water buffalo horn? I know that to some my insisting on using ivory (if at all possible) to replace the missing hilt on an item that is most likely of little value when there are other less expensive and more readily available options might seem a bit strange, but I would rather leave it as is than use something I know to be wrong. If I cannot find a suitable piece of ivory in the next few months I will most likely substitute water buffalo bone or horn if I find that it was also used as a hilt material for these knives . Again my thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

Best,
Robert

Trying this again .... Gunbroker .
Found some time ago .