Asian knife-need help!
I just came across this "old friend" in the ongoing unpacking process from a move. I think I've owned this for the better part of twenty years.
It came to me through a man who was married to a Chinese woman from Tianjin, whose father had some political position which gave him access to some warehouses in that city. These warehouses held property that was supposedly rounded up during the Cultural Revolution, when anybody who thought they had something to worry about did their best to cut all cultural and material ties with the old regime. In today's terms, it was a Great Downsizing!
When I was studying in Xi'an in 1987 I repeatedly heard of this "warehouse" from contacts who were aware of things being very slowly filtered out for sale in the government approved antique shops.
The knife pictured is different from most forms because of its size, but it's vaguely similar stylistically to the Dadao. The quatrefoil guard is brass. The pommel part of the grip scales on the side opposite has broken away and is long missing.
Any ideas of a specific name for this, or even of one exists? Should I clean this conservatively and repair the pommel? Comments?
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