[CharlesS]

When I first saw this dha/daab I was immediately impressed by the quality of the silverwork. The guard seemed more of a puzzle, though, and looked much like the work I have seen on Vietnamese swords(which are definitely NOT in my area of knowledge). The scabbard wood also reminded me of Vietnamese scabbards for dress swords. With my curiosity piqued, I checked in with one of our resident dha/daab researchers and experts, Nathaniel Hope, to get his input. While I had thought this was a Thai/Vietnamese combination he pointed to a more likely Lao/Vietnamese combination, explaining that the silver artwork and motifs were more typically Lao, but agreeing that the sword had a VERY strong Vietnamese influence.