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Originally Posted by Rick
Hi Micas and welcome to the forum,
For starters . 
http://dharesearch.bowditch.us/
The "Dhafia" here  will I'm sure be along shortly to answer any questions you might have . |
So we have gone from being the cute and cuddly "Dha Guys" to being an organized sword syndicate? Fugettaboutit!
That is a nice piece you have there, micas. It is a style typical of the working dha of the "northern" Tai (Tai yuan), called Shan by the Burmese, and including the Lao. This style is seen all over the northern-ish part of continental Southeast Asia, meaning northeastern and eastern Myanmar (Burma), northern Thailand, Laos, and likely Yunnan province in China though we don't have any well-provinanced swords from that particular area. The coin substantiates the Laotian provinance, as most of Laos was part of French Indochina.
The vine motif, the rattan-wrapped grip, rattan bindings on the scabbard, the blade profile and scabbard shape (with rounded tip) make up the "suite" of traits characteristic of this style. I would say that the coin is original, and more-or-less contemporary with the sword. Its possible that it is post-WWII, but my guess based on the patina and wear, and the condition of the cord baldric (also original from appearances) is early 20th C. The incised decoration on the blade is rather nice, and does not appear to have been simply stamped in, as you see in recent blades. The black coating on the grip and scabbard is something that Ian has identified as being characteristic of dha from Cambodia (and I think Laos as well -- correct me if I am wrong Ian). It seems to be something the eastern-most users of dha did with their swords.
If you give me some dimensions and other vital statistics, and your permission, I'll put it on my web site (its the one Rick linked, above). There is a page there with directions about submitting swords.
Ba-da-bing
