Bird shaped sword - A question to the Dah experts

Oriental-Arms · 2nd May 2006, 09:35 AM

Recently we stumbled on these two Dah (?) swords (Different places and times):

The wood scabbard is carved in the style of a bird body with the handle as the bird head:

And a close ups of the handles:

Blades 16 and 17 inches. Well forged, rather heavy and thick with a false back edge. One of the hilts is horn and one wood. Metal mounts are brass and iron. Total length 29 and 30 inches. One of the swords has an old illegible label of a store or a collection with good age on it.

Any ideas on origin and age??

Andrew · 2nd May 2006, 01:33 PM

Hi Artzi. Those are interesting things. I've not seen anything similar before.

Is there something in particular that makes you think "dha" when you handle these?

Oriental-Arms · 2nd May 2006, 02:32 PM

Hi Andrew

No good answer really. A little bit from the blade shape and a lot of intuition, but nothing to substantiate it

Rick · 2nd May 2006, 02:50 PM

Hi Artzi ,
Maybe a closer look at the carving on the scabbards can suggest the style of a particular culture .

Not a Dhafioso but when I first looked at them I was reminded a little of Pacific Northwest Native American work .

Most unusual .

fearn · 2nd May 2006, 06:08 PM

Hi All,

I'm not in the dhafia either, but Stone's Glossary has one of these blades pictured as a dha (fig. 257, p. 207, caption:"horn hilt and wood scabbard carved in the form of a conventional bird."). We haven't seen anything like this from the dhaphiles, but if Stone's correct (not 100% certain), this is another type of dha. It would have been nice if he'd provided some more source or size information...

F

Oriental-Arms · 2nd May 2006, 06:20 PM

Great Fearn and thanks. It is ages since I opened Stone to look for a blade. We should do it more frequently.

Andrew · 3rd May 2006, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearn

Hi All,

I'm not in the dhafia either, but Stone's Glossary has one of these blades pictured as a dha (fig. 257, p. 207, caption:"horn hilt and wood scabbard carved in the form of a conventional bird."). We haven't seen anything like this from the dhaphiles, but if Stone's correct (not 100% certain), this is another type of dha. It would have been nice if he'd provided some more source or size information...

F

Great call, Fearn!

Andrew · 3rd May 2006, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oriental-Arms

Hi Andrew

No good answer really. A little bit from the blade shape and a lot of intuition, but nothing to substantiate it

No suprise that your intuition was dead-on.

I've never seen one of these before, and you come up with two! Outstanding.

Perhaps PUFF can shed some light on where this form originates.

PUFF · 3rd May 2006, 10:37 AM

Neither I 'm

From the first glance, I do not recognize these pieces as a Dha/Dahb.
Typical Dha seems to share upward hilt characteristic while these two pieces have downward one. This means the blades might be designed for a different martial art (or for tourist). IMHO: These two pieces are unlikely to be Dha/Dahb. Could it be islandic or african?

Andrew · 3rd May 2006, 01:23 PM

Hi Puff. In my experience, downward-turned hilts do appear on some dha hmyaung. Perhaps these are from Burma?

2nd May 2006, 09:35 AM	#1
Oriental-Arms Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Haifa, Israel Posts: 183	Bird shaped sword - A question to the Dah experts Recently we stumbled on these two Dah (?) swords (Different places and times): The wood scabbard is carved in the style of a bird body with the handle as the bird head: And a close ups of the handles: Blades 16 and 17 inches. Well forged, rather heavy and thick with a false back edge. One of the hilts is horn and one wood. Metal mounts are brass and iron. Total length 29 and 30 inches. One of the swords has an old illegible label of a store or a collection with good age on it. Any ideas on origin and age??

2nd May 2006, 01:33 PM	#2
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Hi Artzi. Those are interesting things. I've not seen anything similar before. Is there something in particular that makes you think "dha" when you handle these?

2nd May 2006, 02:32 PM	#3
Oriental-Arms Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Haifa, Israel Posts: 183	Hi Andrew No good answer really. A little bit from the blade shape and a lot of intuition, but nothing to substantiate it

2nd May 2006, 02:50 PM	#4
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,262	Hi Artzi , Maybe a closer look at the carving on the scabbards can suggest the style of a particular culture . Not a Dhafioso but when I first looked at them I was reminded a little of Pacific Northwest Native American work . Most unusual .

2nd May 2006, 06:08 PM	#5
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi All, I'm not in the dhafia either, but Stone's Glossary has one of these blades pictured as a dha (fig. 257, p. 207, caption:"horn hilt and wood scabbard carved in the form of a conventional bird."). We haven't seen anything like this from the dhaphiles, but if Stone's correct (not 100% certain), this is another type of dha. It would have been nice if he'd provided some more source or size information... F

2nd May 2006, 06:20 PM	#6
Oriental-Arms Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Haifa, Israel Posts: 183	Great Fearn and thanks. It is ages since I opened Stone to look for a blade. We should do it more frequently.

3rd May 2006, 10:37 AM	#9
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	Neither I 'm From the first glance, I do not recognize these pieces as a Dha/Dahb. Typical Dha seems to share upward hilt characteristic while these two pieces have downward one. This means the blades might be designed for a different martial art (or for tourist). IMHO: These two pieces are unlikely to be Dha/Dahb. Could it be islandic or african?

3rd May 2006, 01:23 PM	#10
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Hi Puff. In my experience, downward-turned hilts do appear on some dha hmyaung. Perhaps these are from Burma?