Some kind of dha?

[Flavio]

Thank you guys, i will post some pictures of scabbard as soon as the work is finished

[PUFF]

Thanks for detailed pic. I just discussed with K. Bancha. The blade style was used during early(late C18th)-mid(late C19th) Rattanakosin. With this kind of spine, this one 's likely to be mid-Rattanakosin (as Ian mentioned, late C19th). The origin 's likely to be central Thailand because he found a similar example from NaKornSawan province. And the hamon 's likely to be differential harden rather than Sanmai

[Flavio]

Thank you very much Puff

[kronckew]

hi flavio,

one of my dha's came with a scabbard in much the same shape as yours, made some copper bands for it from sheet copper, and a copper chape for the scabbard end which replaces the one much like it that was very damaged., added some braided string bands later. i'll probably replace those with turk's head knots at some point, now that i learned how to tie them (google 'turk's head' - they're the same knots scouts use to make their neckerchief slides, and can be used for other decorative purposes (mats, monkey's fist rope ends, etc))
much of the wood was missing near the tip which i hand carved replacement bits for & carefully inlaid & glued them in place (before banding, of course) from your photo i think there may have been a wooden pin to hold the halves together near the scabbard tip which was also present on mine. i replaced it with a piece whittled from a bamboo chopstick. this was my first 'restoration' and the scabbard was in so bad a condition on receipt, i did not feel too bad about not being overly 'authentic' in restoring it. anyhow, picture follows, (the kukhri in the picture is 21" LOA.....the dha in it's scabbard is 34" LOA, 10" grip, 23" blade)

edited:
found my 'before' pictures for this naga dha, the scabbard was complete tho in 2 halves, no bands tho, rotten baldric was only thing holding it all together, re-varnished it & added new turk's head bands - dha grip has individually braided rattan rings covering it which luckily were complete & in good shape so did not require any rework, so the sword was basically just cleaned & oiled. it had a bamboo pin at the scabbard tip also.
before:

after:

[Ian]

Hi Kronckew:

Nice looking work and close enough to the original. BTW, I think the bottom example is probably Thai -- 19th C. The tip is a little unusual but of a style for blades that serve as a utility tool and weapon. [PUFF could probably give you the province from which this one comes.] I have a similar sword, probably early 19th C., which is presently on display at the Macau Museum of Art. Its scabbard is black lacquered wood with old rattan strips and baldric.

Yours is a handsome example with what sounds like a well preserved rattan wrapped hilt. Some plaited rattan strips would look super on that scabbard.

Ian.


Here are pictures of mine off Mark's Dha Research Index

[PUFF]

Ian, not all case that we can ID province of which a blade come. Most of the case, we can ID only country or region. In the case of a blade with a specific mark or looks very much similar to an example from a known province, then we can ID into narrower place.

Your Hua-Mon blade looks very unique. With such a brass peg at the tip, detailed photo for spine base and little metal plate guard, we might be able to get a specific ID from experts in my region.

[Ian]

That particular sword won't be back in my hands until late August, after the Macau exhibition finishes. The blade appears to be older than many dahb in my collection. There is no brass plate at the end of the handle adjacent to the blade. Not sure it ever had one. The spine is peaked and, from memory, had a double taper.

Ian.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Ian

... BTW, I think the bottom example is probably Thai -- 19th C. The tip is a little unusual but of a style for blades that serve as a utility tool and weapon. [PUFF could probably give you the province from which this one comes.] I have a similar sword, probably early 19th C., which is presently on display at the Macau Museum of Art. Its scabbard is black lacquered wood with old rattan strips and baldric....

hi ian,

don't really want to hijack fabio's thread, was just showing him a couple of scabbard repair suggestions.

that dha of mine has a copper circular plate at the pommel end of the grip held on by three nails. the plate is lipped back over the grip & keeps the rings from sliding off (along with all the other gunk on the grip) the blade end has a tapering copper bolster, covered by the rings, and a flat circular copper disk with a square hole for the tang covering the blade/grip junction, held on with 4 nails. the nails are all apparently steel with cross-hatched flat heads. the tang is about 4 inches into the grip (checked with magnet) 3/8" thick at the grip. the flat blade spine is distally tapered sharply from the grip over the 1st third of the blade, then rounded/chamfered and tapering less sharply to the razor sharp tip. spine is initially flat & incised with a series of diagonal lines, in 4 groups of 6,2,7, and 4 lines. the 4th line of the 1st group and the third group are broad and inset with copper. the tip is sharp all the way from the edge to the spine. no brass/copper inserted dot. the blade has no pitting or active rust but has a well developed mottled patina. all copper has a very dark almost olive patina. was told it was probably a 'naga' type from northern thailand, but may have katchin ancestry as well, as they are a bit overlapped in the region based on what was popular with the smiths at the time & who was fighting who....

[Flavio]

Hello kronckew, thank you for the pics, this weekend i have to work at the scabbard!!!!