Interesting pictures 2

dennee · 4th April 2007, 02:39 AM

A number of those above are indeed probably Adi, but #2 appears to be Aka because of the characteristic earrings (although he lacks the common face-painting). A lot of Akas live east of Bhutan, explaining, I suppose, the Bhutanese sword and the gau handing from his neck.

It is interesting to see the good close-ups of Tibetan swords; they are better featured than in most old photos from Tibet itself and suggest the extent and importance of the trade in Tibetan arms (and bells, etc.) to the peoples to the south. Among these photos, you can see some of the less-decorated, presumably southeastern Tibetan types with circular or octagonal pommels, round-section grips and round, iron guards.

The Tibetans did apparently appreciate the aesthetics of their pattern-welded blades as suggested by the interesting patterns themselves and the difficulty of achieving some of them (and sometimes even the apparent weaknesses they might have caused the blades; I have one of the "jelly roll pattern with a forging flaw that runs partly around one of the swirls, running roughly perpendicular to the blade). The Tibetans may not have repeatedly etched their blades (or perhaps even initially, but I don't think anyone knows at this point), but they clearly avoided over-polishing that would obscure the contrast between the steels used. Among other polishing techniques of Bhutanese blades, Phuntsho Rapten describes rubbing them on a black gravel whetstone "to give ash-black color" and then rubbing with iron filings in a piece of hide "to increase its lustre." It may be that these two processes (or something else entirely!) heighten the contrast. Thubten Jigme Norbu and Colin Turnbull's book "Tibet" (p. 102) seems to distinguish between patterns that are more distinct and those that are fainter (in addition to the "jelly roll" pattern).

4th April 2007, 02:39 AM	#7
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	A number of those above are indeed probably Adi, but #2 appears to be Aka because of the characteristic earrings (although he lacks the common face-painting). A lot of Akas live east of Bhutan, explaining, I suppose, the Bhutanese sword and the gau handing from his neck. It is interesting to see the good close-ups of Tibetan swords; they are better featured than in most old photos from Tibet itself and suggest the extent and importance of the trade in Tibetan arms (and bells, etc.) to the peoples to the south. Among these photos, you can see some of the less-decorated, presumably southeastern Tibetan types with circular or octagonal pommels, round-section grips and round, iron guards. The Tibetans did apparently appreciate the aesthetics of their pattern-welded blades as suggested by the interesting patterns themselves and the difficulty of achieving some of them (and sometimes even the apparent weaknesses they might have caused the blades; I have one of the "jelly roll pattern with a forging flaw that runs partly around one of the swirls, running roughly perpendicular to the blade). The Tibetans may not have repeatedly etched their blades (or perhaps even initially, but I don't think anyone knows at this point), but they clearly avoided over-polishing that would obscure the contrast between the steels used. Among other polishing techniques of Bhutanese blades, Phuntsho Rapten describes rubbing them on a black gravel whetstone "to give ash-black color" and then rubbing with iron filings in a piece of hide "to increase its lustre." It may be that these two processes (or something else entirely!) heighten the contrast. Thubten Jigme Norbu and Colin Turnbull's book "Tibet" (p. 102) seems to distinguish between patterns that are more distinct and those that are fainter (in addition to the "jelly roll" pattern).