Dha with Ivory Handle & Repousse Scabbard
 

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This is a wonderful piece. The repousse is great and the ivory carving well done. Shame the top was broken off the hilt...

Battara,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I agree, it is a shame that the end of the ivory hilt is damaged...I would have liked to see what it looked like intact...but also like the damage in someways...gives it character...the ivory carving and repousse is very well done...especially the ivory carving is better than most I've seen...

I'm wondering if any have seen pieces similar...I have seen one other...but it's ivory handle was not as intricate. The owner said 'he had always thought it was burmese, but another historian told him it was "shan thai, and probably made for a thai in 19thc around 1850 to 1900, ill go with her on it though as its been a mystery to me since i bought it last year in auction here, it might be from pitsanaluk which was close to the burma border and had a mixed burmese thai decorational art history"

I have a very similar one, sadly without the original scabbard.
http://www.dharesearch.bowditch.us/Images/Image360.jpg
Mine also suffered the same break as yours, though while I owned it, so I was able to repair the damage.

The carving on yours really is of exceptional quality. What is depicted is the moment of the Gautama Buddha achieved Nirvana. Inside the pierce carving would be a figure of the reclining Buddha, the external carving represents the branches of an arbor where all of this happened. I am not sure who the guys peaking out are, but they look very cool IMO.

This style is typical of the workshops in Moulmien (southern Burma, near the Thai border). Apparently those shops have closed, and the center of this "school" of ivory carving is in Rangoon.

Here is the full page on my sword:

http://www.dharesearch.bowditch.us/0057.htm

Mark, I guess I didn't realize the carving beneath the ivory lattice...when the dha arrived it was all filled with dust underneath, so after your comment I took the vacuum cleaner and sucked out the excess dust...to find some nice carvings of the bodies of the figures you see on the outside surface...very impressive carving!

I have a dagger with almost identical carving...head at the top of the hilt...AND an almost identical break. Such delicate carving, must not have stood up too well to the wear and tear at that point.

Come to think of it, the top of the hilt likely took a lot hits, from light taps to real thuds....stop and think about all the dents you've seen on silver pommel hilts on dhas. Must have been a noteworthy pressure point.

Charles,

I'd love to see some pictures of your dagger when you have time! :)