Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Mark · 30th January 2007, 02:05 PM

Great stuff, Puff! (By the way, one photo in the last message didn't post properly). The photos raise a couple questions for me.

First, of in the ones from Utaradit, Pisanulok area, the top two look like top-most of the Ratanakosin-era dahb. Is this because they are all both from Utaradit and the Ratanakosin era, or is there some feature distinguishing the two?

Second, in the photo of the Utaradit dahb, what distinguishes the lowest one as an exceutioner's sword? Is it the heaviness of the blade, the hua, or the handle? Maybe something else? It is difficult to make out anything of the exceutioner's sword in the photos of the linked thread (beware, people, they are very graphic).

Finally, in the last photo of dahb from southern Thailand, the first and third I had thought were a Lanna (i.e., northern) style, based on the pommel and ferrule (area next to the blade). Similar swords are shown in Punjabhan, Silverware in Thailand (1991), as I recall from the National Museum collection, and are identified as being from Lanna. There was no discussion in Punjabhan regarding the distinguishing features, so my identification of this pommel and ferrule style with Lanna is just based on comparing the various photos and noting those features that were found consistently in the dahb attributed to Lanna, but not in other dahb.

These dabh meeting you have been holding have been generating some very interesting and exciting new (for me) information. If I can get to Thailand at the right time, I would love to attend one.

30th January 2007, 02:05 PM	#3
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	Great stuff, Puff! (By the way, one photo in the last message didn't post properly). The photos raise a couple questions for me. First, of in the ones from Utaradit, Pisanulok area, the top two look like top-most of the Ratanakosin-era dahb. Is this because they are all both from Utaradit and the Ratanakosin era, or is there some feature distinguishing the two? Second, in the photo of the Utaradit dahb, what distinguishes the lowest one as an exceutioner's sword? Is it the heaviness of the blade, the hua, or the handle? Maybe something else? It is difficult to make out anything of the exceutioner's sword in the photos of the linked thread (beware, people, they are very graphic). Finally, in the last photo of dahb from southern Thailand, the first and third I had thought were a Lanna (i.e., northern) style, based on the pommel and ferrule (area next to the blade). Similar swords are shown in Punjabhan, Silverware in Thailand (1991), as I recall from the National Museum collection, and are identified as being from Lanna. There was no discussion in Punjabhan regarding the distinguishing features, so my identification of this pommel and ferrule style with Lanna is just based on comparing the various photos and noting those features that were found consistently in the dahb attributed to Lanna, but not in other dahb. These dabh meeting you have been holding have been generating some very interesting and exciting new (for me) information. If I can get to Thailand at the right time, I would love to attend one.