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					Originally Posted by Sajen
					
				 Thank you Andrew.     Have discussed the sword with a good friend who is a great expert for swords from mainland SEA, he seems to be sure that it is a 18thc sword. Second the age estimation from Ian in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19121  post #4. The wear of friction at the handle is a further point.
  
 Regards, 
 Detlef | 
	
 Detlef:
In my previous post I was not really definite about the 18th C attribution. Here is what I said in the post you quote--please note the qualifying comment at the end:
"What makes this 18th C? The main feature here is the hilt which  resembles Ayutthaya hilts of that period and earlier. The slim handle  with an elongated lotus bud pommel and a bell-like flaring adjacent to  the blade is very reminiscent of Ayutthaya daab found in Thai museums  and dated to the 17th and 18th C.  This daab also has a small guard--a  feature more commonly found with Lao daab than Thai swords of the 18th  and 19th C. All this said, it is possible that the sword could be of  later manufacture (perhaps second half of the 19th C) but in a style  harking back to an earlier period."
Andrew thinks that many of these daab are likely from the late 19th C. And I must agree that although the dealers' pictures I posted in the other thread showed swords made in an older style, they could have been manufactured more recently than the style would suggest.
You mention that your friend has some experience with SE Asian swords and has examined this daab. I would like to know the additional features that he found that would indicate a blade more than 200 years old. The pictures that you show from the dealer do not persuade me that this is such an old blade, so I would like to know what he found that convinced him of its age.
Regards,
Ian.