Chinese dagger for comment

[Battara]

Yeah I am afraid I agree - never seen Tibetan pieces have chinese characters on the blades and the style of work does not appear Tibetan to me.

[Henk]

Lew, Battara,

Thanks for your answer. A repro of a tibetan dagger. Don't know why your answer doesn't surprise me. I don't know why, but with chinese stuff i always get an itchy feeling.
What does it make you think it should represent a tibetan dagger? Is it the horned dragon on the scabbard or the complete style of this thing?

[Bill M]

The overall design looks Tibetan.

This is an everyday herdsman's kinfe.

[Battara]

I'm with Bill, the overall style is Tibetan/Bhutanese, althought the style of the mounts are not and the design features are a little off to be authentic for me.

[josh stout]

The blade seems a bit rough and not well finished, and the fullers are also shallow and not well made. I have a dagger made around 1990 for everyday use from the Tibetan/Chinese border region and it is quite different. The scabbard is plain brass with no designs, while the blade is thick and solid and well made with deeply cut fullers. The tang runs through the solid metal handle and is peened at the end. The point is also much less hurried looking. Even in the early 90s when there were no Westerners traveling in the area and not even that many Han Chinese, there were many knives in the market that looked like this (according to hearsay). They were not exactly tourist pieces, but perhaps more for status and show than use. Now of course eBay is flooded with such stuff.

Can anyone comment on the pommel style of this blade? It looks like a copy of Bhutanese styles to me.
Josh

[Bill M]

Hi Josh,

I got this from LionsGate at the Baltimore Arms Show. He said it was Bhutanese. Can you tell us the differences in Bhutanese and Tibetan?

Thanks, Bill

[Lew]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

Hi Josh,

I got this from LionsGate at the Baltimore Arms Show. He said it was Bhutanese. Can you tell us the differences in Bhutanese and Tibetan?

Thanks, Bill

Bill

Tibet borders on Bhutan to the north east and north west so the lines start to get a little blurred when looking at these types of daggers.

Lew

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Bill

Tibet borders on Bhutan to the north east and north west so the lines start to get a little blurred when looking at these types of daggers.

Lew

This is why I wondered how some sellers seem to say with such certainty it is Tibetan or Bhutanese.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Bill

Tibet borders on Bhutan to the north east and north west so the lines start to get a little blurred when looking at these types of daggers.

Lew

This is why I wondered how some sellers seem to say with such certainty it is Tibetan or Bhutanese.

[Henk]

Bill,

That are some nice and better examples.

Josh,

The one I picked up didn't come from ebay. But that statement means nothing at all.

The tang of the knife runs trough the handle and is also peened at the end. The blade is thick and sturdy and still rather sharp. I can see traces of sharpening at the edge and the edge has some blunts as it was used to cut something with it.