Silver daab

[Iain]

Members might find this recent addition to my collection interesting. A rather unique example with silver fittings.

[Marc M.]

Nice.

[mariusgmioc]

Magnificent!
19th or early 20th century.
Belonged to a high ranking dignitary or tribal leader.

[Sajen]

Very nice Iain! Any guesses from where it is coming exactly?

Regards,
Detlef

[Jim McDougall]

I would suggest Thailand, from what I have learned in research today.

[Ian]

Hi Iain,

Interesting sword and scabbard. The hilt with a snake (?) or maybe dragon (?) pommel, and the style of silver work suggests a Chinese influence to me. Perhaps Southern Yunnan, northern Thai/Lao/Vietnamese. The drag on the end of the scabbard might suggest Chinese or French Colonial influence as well, sp I would say northern Laos or northern Vietnam. Late 19th C.

[Iain]

Thanks for all your comments.

I'm quite happy to share the detail of exactly what this sword is.

This sword falls into a specific family of silver dressed daab made in and around Luang Prabang in the mid to late 19th century. At this time the Kingdom of Luang Prabang was a vassal state to Siam, having been first occupied in the 1790s but allowed a degree of autonomy by Bangkok. By the reign of Chantharath (r. 1850-1868) Luang Prabang faced serious pressure from Haw Chinese incursions and the simmering tensions and conflicts between Siam, Vietnam and the very growing French presence in the region.

Still, for all this turmoil these swords are a fascinating and somewhat unique grouping and I have been lucky enough to own one of the more 'common' forms in the past and am attaching images as a reference as too why the one I started this thread with is exceptional.

One of the main characteristics of this sword sub-type is the style of the grip. It invariably shows the 'loop' or 'cord' like decoration with usually a floral decorative element in-between representing a lamduan. An animal motif of some kind is not uncommon, usually present on the end of the pommel, which is typically a flat cap. The blades are usually of good quality, although these are swords for those of high rank and likely were not often employed as front line weapons.

Now that we have a baseline of a 'common' example I'll continue on with the animal head pommel piece in a second post...

[Iain]

Returning to the piece I started the thread with, I think it is first beneficial to show that it is clearly a sword from Laos. In the attached image you can see the blade shape, proportions and decorative elements on the blade conform closely to Vientiane and Isan region daab I have posed it with. While the top sword is somewhat older it clearly shows they are of the same family and follow a similar design philosophy and geometry for the blade.

Turning to the handle, the animal seen on the pommel and which is key to the entire design of this sword, is a creature known as a Mucha Wan. This originates from the legendary Himmapan (or Himavanta) Forest, best known in a Siam/Laos context from the Thai legend "Traibhumikatha". I will not relate the entire story here, but it is an ancient legend based on Buddhist themes and is connected with the early Sukhothai monarch Maha Thammaracha I.

The Himmapan Forest is filled with creatures that are combined from two different animals. The Mucha Wan being a combination of a fish and a seal (or whale). For this reason the face of the creature displays whisker-like elements, a clear nose, and a flat plate on the head, while the body and tail are scaled and fish-like. I am attaching a few illustrations of a Mucha Wan.

This motif is not simply used in the pommel but in fact continues throughout the handle. The detail shows rather than lamduan flowers small renditions of the Mucha Wan and scales.

Some floral elements do remain, but even in the scabbard mounts the Mucha Wan motif is maintained and the scabbard drag forms the fish tail of the creature.

The mucha wan theme continues at the guard, with an open mouth depiction showing the characteristic toothy mouth and extended tongue.

Continued in a third post...

[Iain]

We can only speculate of course about who owned this piece, why the commissioned it with this motif and under exactly rank it was carried. However, it is unique in my experience and so far I have not uncovered another similar example or found anything close through friends in the broader daab/dha collecting community in the region. It is very possible it is something of a 'once off'.

If we were to speculate, given the somewhat water based theme, it could be the case it was owned by someone connected to the considerable importance of waterways in the region and perhaps the river navy. However that is simply enjoyable musings at this stage. What we can confidently state is that this is part of a family of swords made in the mid to late 19th century (this one probably towards the earlier half of that range given the quality of the silver and the blade) in Luang Prabang. I don't usually collect 'fancy' daab/dha but this one I could not resist with its combination of intriguing mythology and well made components.

It handles very well in the hand with excellent balance and is quite a large sword at nearly 100cm long.

Swords of this general pattern continued to be used well into the 20th century in Laos including in court functions, although later examples at times swapped out the silver grips for carved wood. If you look closely you will observe similar patterns in more recent events even during the 1970s with the last king of Laos, Sisavang Vatthana as well as heirlooms in Lao families in modern day Isan.