I just couldn't wait!!!

[Gonzalo G]

!Congratulations, Gav! A VERY interesting piece. Do you think it´s an offering item to the temple? Or a weapon designed to be used, no matter it was offered? There were some heavy fighting weapons on the chinese arsenal. Usually associated with the presence of heavy armour.
Regards

Gonzalo

[Gavin Nugent]

G'day Gonzalo, thanks for popping in on this thread.

Without having the piece in my hand yet, I still believe it is a weapon of massive proportions but was used within a temple of some description, maybe for ceremony, maybe for protection... I have yet been unable to reveal this.

There was reference made by the packers and senders when I spoke to them, that the shaft, although it appears to be timber to me when looking through the dragons mouth, they indicated that it is as hard as iron and almost had a metallic ring to it when struck, this alone may point further to a more practical nature. What I can see within the blades structure points to me that it is a weapon and the design of the dragon and the inlay on the blade all point to the makeup of something that would be used and found within a temple, one that could well be called upon within it's home to serve as devastating weapon.
Again, only my thoughts. I know there are some out there who would be considered much more versed in the subject and I look forward to hearing from them if they stumble across this thread. Given the time, I will make contact via websites to experts to see if the mystery can be revealed.
What are your views on this one Gonzalo?
I continue to welcome all comments from anyone interested, speculation or otherwise can all help unravel a mystery.

thanks

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

Not the same but worth a look, sounds like it is in German. Fast forward to 3 minutes and again to 4minutes 30 secs for a few different versions in this Doco.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=A5EwWL...eature=related

I guess no one was looking as I forgot the link

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

What a beauty!!

I will post photos if it ever stops raining here. It has a nice forged blade with distal taper and the iron butt spike is still in place.
I am leaning more to ceremonial as it is massive and I just don't know how something so large could be moved swiftly enough to defend and be offensive too, no matter how many youtube videos I watch!!! This one just seems bigger and heavier.

Watch this space, more to come.

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

Josh, this maybe interesting for you, some of the data that you want.

The blade is 32 inches long from the forward most cutting edge to the dragons mouth, it is 10 inches tall at the first curve on the forefront and a little under this at the large middle curve/hook on the top of the blade. The blade still has a keen cutting edge from the Dragon's mouth to the end tip.

The spine is 3/8 of an inch wide at the dragons mouth and the blade is 4 inches tall at this point. It narrows slightly along the spine and then broadens again towards the first rear curve and from there distally tapers towards the tip and all the cutting edges. The curved valleys along the spine from this middle point to the tip have beveled unsharpened edges.

There are signs within this hand forged blade of delamination in places and a small forging crack has appeared in the forward most top curve. The large middle top hook is nicely shaped to both sides of the blade to appear more cloud like, it enhances the bronze/brass inlay that is present at this point by adding a round visual feel to it.

The inlay goes all the way from the dragons throat to the forward most "star" along the top edge of the blade and is of a very interesting design that the photos will reveal.

The Brass star inlay is all present except on one side were one piece of brass is lost. They protrude both sides about an 8th of an inch. They are all iron centred and brass based and both the brass and iron are tight and dome finished which does give a nice effect.

I will get some images of the blade posted to support this description and then move on down the piece with more descriptions and images.

If there is anything in particular that I have not covered please ask.

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

Images;

[josh stout]

Wow, now I even like this better. The details are overwhelming. I have never seen stars made like that, but I have seen several jian blades with variations including multiple metals and changes in alloys. Are all the stars exactly alike, or are they divided into groups of four and three? What is the total weight? Where is the balance point?

I am strongly leaning toward a martial arts training weapon/display item.

Temple display items tend to be purely for display with thin blades that allow them to be carried easily for processions. Martial arts schools, on the other hand, would have the combined requirements of weapons to look nice on the wall, and something that would hold together in practice. My only experience with such things is with two jian I have held which were made exactly like jian to be used as weapons, with hard steel edges and typical pattern welding, but with double the weight. Jian like that are extremely rare. One was in the personal collection of Scott Rodell (you can see it in his book on swordsmanship), and the other was passed down within my school of kungfu.

I think you have found the equivalent in a pole arm, making it even more unusual

One characteristic of the jian is that while they are quite heavy, they are still well balanced. Another thing to look for is if the head has a long enough tang and other attachment devices to allow it to be swung safely.

Don't try and swing it with any energy though. I managed to snap the pole on (a regular) one when training with it. Old wood just doesn't have the strength to withstand torque and vibrations with that kind of leverage.

Thanks for the pictures.
Josh

[Mark]

Originally Posted by freebooter

What a beauty!!

I will post photos if it ever stops raining here. It has a nice forged blade with distal taper and the iron butt spike is still in place.
I am leaning more to ceremonial as it is massive and I just don't know how something so large could be moved swiftly enough to defend and be offensive too, no matter how many youtube videos I watch!!! This one just seems bigger and heavier.

Watch this space, more to come.

Gav

Yaaaay! I have never been happier to be wrong. I can now see clearly from the new photos that what I was afraid were dents are forging irregularities. Its a beautiful piece. Congratulations.