Ban sword of the Lepcha people of Sikkim
 

Good day all. I found this sword at the show in Timonium. It was missing the two scabbard bands, and I had time today to replace them. It gave me a whole new level of respect for Jose's work. Hopefully it doesn't look to bad. :shrug:

From this thread on the forum http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=lepcha
I see that this is a sword of the Lepcha people of Sikkim state in India. Sikkim is bordered by Nepal, China, Tibet, and Bhutan. It has a 15.5" (39.5 cm) monosteel blade that is .306" (7.75mm) thick. It is differentially hardened. I am not sure of the age, but it could be anywhere from the early 1900's to the present. :) Attached are some pictures. Thank you for your comments.
Steve

I misread your last sentence as "Attatched awesome pictures"

Agreed.


Seriously, though, this is a beautiful piece. I don't see nearly enough of these wonderful pieces!

Steve

Looks like the one I use to have in my collection some years back. Nice find :)
Btw yours is circa 1890s-1915.

Good job Steve. Not bad at all what i see on the pictures. Awsome sword, congrats!

Hi,
You made a good job; I have a similar one but the bands have a different pattern. Attached two pics.
Paolo

What is Ban?
People? Name of the sword? Or are we suppose to ban them on the forum?

LOL. Ban is the name of the sword. People are Lepcha. :)

Paolo, Thank you for showing the decoration on your bands. It's the first picture that I have seen.

Lew, those dates are good to hear.

Thank you all for your comments!

Steve

Hi Paolo

I seems you have the aquired sword that was in my collection. ;) Funny how these things get around. :D

Very nice sword Steve! :) And good restore job.

Regards,

Detlef

Hi Lew,
It seems a good origin !!
I were, always interested to the mark on the blade. Someone knows something about it ?
Paolo

See: http://aachulay.blogspot.com/2010/10/lepcha-dress.html

Thanks Dennee,
So this short sword would be a baanmok?

Steve

They look like eyelash marks to me :shrug:.

Great to see this example. I have one without a scabbard that I thought was Eastern Chinese/Tibetan/Bhutanese. It's nice to see i was close, but even nicer to know exactly what I have.

You mention that yours is mono-steel. Are you sure? Mine has Tibetan style hairpin folding, and it seems as though yours might as well.
Josh

I'd say that one that shows hairpin folding would probably be 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th, Claude White talked about the loss of the traditional methods with the importation of billets of Indian steel.

Bans do bear a resemblance to Bhutanese swords---if you disregard or look beyond the finish of the upper-class patag. Reduced to their basic blades and wood hilts and scabbards, some of the working knives and commoners' short swords look more like bans, if you were to remove half the scabbard. It is the ends of the blades that difer more in shape. I have some photos at home somewhere that I can post later.

Hi Josh,
The sword had been polished, with little patina, so I etched it. It is forged, differentially hardened monosteel. I was hoping for hairpin, but it's still a nice piece.

Dennee,
thanks so much for your earlier thread on these swords.

Steve

Very attractive example and great work Steve.

In mine, there are two very indistinct U shaped rods around a single central rod. There are no very dark rods as found in Tibetan blades, just bands of the same colored steel with fine pitting marking the welding lines similar to what an inserted edge looks like, but on both sides of the blade and following the contour of the tip. When I look at the acid darkened blade on yours, I see a dark area at the edge, then a lighter line in the middle, then a darker line again, then a lighter line, then a darker. Is it my imagination? :confused: Could differential tempering produce that effect alone?
Josh