A Burmese dha with silver and copper koftgari

[cylord21]

Nice, interesting and uncommon decoration on hilt and blade. Wood on scabbard has differences in color, do you think decoration is original to the sword ?. Not much to say, my mind still on the 1798 dha.

[Andrew]

Another fantastic sword! Congrats again, Mark. I'm turning various shades of green now...

We really do need to find someone who can read Burmese. Between the dha guys on this forum, we probably have dozens of swords with inscriptions that might shed some light on age, provenance, etc.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by cylord21

Nice, interesting and uncommon decoration on hilt and blade. Wood on scabbard has differences in color, do you think decoration is original to the sword ?. Not much to say, my mind still on the 1798 dha.

The scabbard may well be a replacement, since stuff rots pretty quickly in that climate, and it has a different style than the blade. I think there was an attempt to match the theme, at least, with the silver-copper combination. The difference in color is wear. The darker color is the original finish, and the lighter areas are where it has been rubbed away by handling and movement of the bands. Once I find a way to gently remove the chape (the ferrule is loose, but slightly tapered tappered so I can't slight things off the other way), I plan to restore it to an even finish.

[RhysMichael]

I can only echo Andrew's envy. Another great sword. I have never seen the style of inlay on this one before. And if the scabbard is a replacement it is certainly nice work. The blade on this one looks as if it were made to use. How does it feel in your hand ? I'll bet it has a "live" natural feel. Again congratulations

[Ian]

and I wish I had bid on it. The blade is a dandy, and the silver work is remarkably crisp.

Someone has had an early Christmas

Ian.

[Battara]

Nice puppy, and the technical word used among silversmiths and shop talk is.....inlay.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Battara

Nice puppy, and the technical word used among silversmiths and shop talk is.....inlay.

The technique here is to roughen the whole area of the design, then hammer wire and small leaves of silver onto the roughened surface, then heat it to anneal the silver to the steel. Would this still be considered inlay? I assumed that was something that was set into an incised or chiseled design. That is the technique used to make the writing on the spine.

[wilked aka Khun Deng]

It's just not right that someone has that many exquisite blades You haven't been doing something with your soul you shouldn't have -- have you?

You bring up a good point though, I've always wondered what the diference was between inlay, kaftgari, and neillo. I was going to start a thread but I think I'll just hijack yours out of jealousy