Help identifying a Brumese Sword c.1860

[worldwide]

Hi Rhys

Many thanks for the welcome and the prompt response! The info you have provided is amazingly detailed!

I bought the sword yesterday for £450.00 from a dealer in London's Portobello Road market. My aim was to buy a katana (a few of which were going for £700) but when I saw the dha I was just fascinated by the design on the blade. The seller seemed honest and descent and did tell me that his knowledge of swords was limited and he could only give me the description given to him by another.

I am trying to find someone in London who can clean the sword and would very much appreciate anyone who may have any advice or recommendations. I will then try and post some better pictures!

Again, thanks for getting back to me with so much detail.

Hope you have a happy new year!

JT

[RhysMichael]

I'm afraid I do not know anyone in England though I am sure there are people there to do it. If you want to ship it to the US I have used Philip Tom and he does excellent work. Another person who does such work is Jose Albovias. I have not used him but I have seen some work he did for other forum members and it also is great. Both of them are forum members and they may know someone out your way. Sorry I am not more help on this

[Mark]

That is a beautiful sword, definately Burmese as John said. I think the scabbard is a replacement, as from the photos it appears to be wood, whereas originally is would have been silver over a wood core. I guess it could just be very tarnished ... its a bit hard to tell from the picture.

The koftgari, by the way, is a defining characteristic of a Burmese dha, as it was not used in other parts of SEA. So if there is koftgari on an old blade, it is almost certainly Burmese, and specificially Burman as opposed to one of the other ethnic groups in Burma. Bell (1907) (see the bibliography on my web site that John linked) states that the koftgari decoration on Burmese swords was invented by a certain family of smiths five generations before his writing. Koftgari is not a Burmese invention, of course, but apparently this family was the first in Burma to apply it to dha. Allowing ~50 years per generation, that goes back to around 1650 C.E. According to Lung Som, a master smith in Aranyik, Thailand, koftgari has never been used on Thai blades.

Dating these swords can be difficult if they do not have a date right on them (you sometimes see dedicatory texts with a date on the blade). However, under British colonial rule there was passed the Arms Act of 1878, which effectively killed the sword-making industry in the country (this according to Bell). What appears to have continued is the production of elaborately decorated presentation swords. These are the ones with the dedicatory texts on the blade and/or scabbard. However, with time the actual quality of the blades of these swords seemed to decline, I guess because the swordmaking art was being lost and they just had to look good and not be at all functional as a blade. So, when you see a really nice Burmese sword with any age to it that does not have a dedication on it, it is pretty safe to assume that it is not much older than the 1870's.

With regard to cleaning, the condition of the blade looks good - no rust that I can see - so you probably don't need a professional restoration. The yellowed residue is very likely just old varnish. I would start with a wipe-down of the blade with paint thinner (turpentine, mineral spirits) or acetone on a soft cloth or paper towel. Wipe gently in case any of the koftgari on the blade is loose (you don't want to snag it and tear it off). Hold the folded cloth or towel between thumb and forefinger and wipe down both sides of the blade simultaneously (not critical, but I think its easier that way). I rub the blade with short strokes along the blade, then wipe with a clean paper towel to remove the loosened varnish as you go along. It usually takes several passes to get all of the varnish off.

The condition of the blade itself looks good - no rust that I can see - so cleaning off the varnish is probably all you that you would need to do.

[RhysMichael]

Originally Posted by Mark

The koftgari, by the way, is a defining characteristic of a Burmese dha, as it was not used in other parts of SEA. So if there is koftgari on an old blade, it is almost certainly Burmese, and specificially Burman as opposed to one of the other ethnic groups in Burma. Bell (1907) (see the bibliography on my web site that John linked) states that the koftgari decoration on Burmese swords was invented by a certain family of smiths five generations before his writing. Koftgari is not a Burmese invention, of course, but apparently this family was the first in Burma to apply it to dha. Allowing ~50 years per generation, that goes back to around 1650 C.E. According to Lung Som, a master smith in Aranyik, Thailand, koftgari has never been used on Thai blades.

Dating these swords can be difficult if they do not have a date right on them (you sometimes see dedicatory texts with a date on the blade). However, under British colonial rule there was passed the Arms Act of 1878, which effectively killed the sword-making industry in the country (this according to Bell). What appears to have continued is the production of elaborately decorated presentation swords. These are the ones with the dedicatory texts on the blade and/or scabbard. However, with time the actual quality of the blades of these swords seemed to decline, I guess because the swordmaking art was being lost and they just had to look good and not be at all functional as a blade. So, when you see a really nice Burmese sword with any age to it that does not have a dedication on it, it is pretty safe to assume that it is not much older than the 1870's.

More good information to add to my "dha notebook", I remember you saying in Md last year that the koftgari was only seen on burmese swords, the rest is all new to me.
Thanks