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Originally Posted by Philip
Donald LaRocca, assoc. curator of arms and armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has written a masterful catalog for the exhibition, "Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet" (NY: Metro. Mus. of Art / New Haven: Yale University, 2006). There is a rather fancy example of one of these swords, with its original scabbard (the one photographed on this thread has a modern replacement of non-traditional construction), identified as Bhutanese (cat. no. 73, p 171). Mr. LaRocca's notation states that such swords "are often found in southern and eastern Tibet".
The Tibetans who used these swords would probably have called them DPA' DAM, referring specifically to a long bladed sword with an oblique tip. The generic term for sword in Tibetan is "ral gri". See the glossary in the above-cited book for additional sword terms in Tibetan.
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Phillip,
I just received my copy of this incredible book. I cannot recommend it too highly. It is a "must have" and even if people are not studying this area, a wonderful read.
I believe that you did some writing for the Met?
Best
Bill
Thank you again for letting us know about it!