Dha from Bassein

[Ian]

Hi Kubur,

I think this dha's age is later than your estimate--probably mid- to late-20th C. The scabbard is in the segmented style that I usually associate with Lao work,* and it appears to have a silver wash over copper or a copper alloy. The repoussed/embossed work is rather course and is of low-medium quality to my eyes. It is the scabbard suspension that also gives this away as less than high quality work, most likely designed for a foreigner. A thin cord sling attached widely apart on the scabbard is not how it should be mounted; the traditional mount (and what would be expected by an owner within the culture) is a loop of thicker cotton cord that is wrapped multiple times around the top of the scabbard and fixed with ends tucked into the wrapping. The loop should be long enough to suspend the sword from a shoulder or slung across the chest.

The blade appears to be well forged and has the prominent fuller seen on many Burmese dha of the 20th C. The bright, smooth polish to the blade suggests to me that it may have been chrome-plated. This is seen occasionally on Burmese dha of the mid- to late-20th C--I have a couple of examples. It is hard to know how well tempered these blades are, but I would not put this one through any cutting tests. The hilt is interesting and the material used for the grip is unfamiliar. Can you ascertain what it is? The picture is hard to discern (is it copper?). The two ferrules on the hilt may be silver- or chrome-plated--again, I have examples of chrome plated hilts also. They do not resemble closely the solid silver examples seen on older pieces, where you can identify the individual pieces of the silverwork (e.g., twisted filigree, solid wire, etc.) used in the construction. Here there appears to be a uniform coating to the components of the ferrules, i.e., plating.

I believe what you have is a nice decorative Burmese dha from the mid-20th C.


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* This style of scabbard is seen with some 20th C Burmese dha, and occasionally on much earlier pieces where the quality of workmanship is considerably better.