Wooden daab blades at the Smithsonian

Mark · 23rd July 2007, 04:02 PM

Here is a sample of the other main reason from my latest visit to the Smithsonian (when I examined the controversial katana-style Thai daab).

There is a collection of 34 wooden blades, ranging in size from a few centimeters up to about 59 centimeters. They are full replicas of blades, with proper dimensions of blade, tang, spine, etc. (or at least as close as one can expect to come in the softer medium of wood). The shapes are quite fantastic, with the larger ones showing the most unusual of the shapes. Some of the larger ones had writing on them, which I attempted to photograph with mixed success.

These were donated to the Smithsonian by the Siamese government after the Louisiana Purchase Centennial Exposition in 1903, along with many other pieces, and I assume that they were displayed in the Siamese Pavilion.

I am hoping that our Thai colleagues can shed some light on these mysterious items. Two possibilities that occurred to me were (a) that they are models actually used by smiths for customers to choose what style blade to have made, and (b) that they are models meant purely to show the variety of Thai blade styles, perhaps made specifically for the exhibition. The Natural History Museum on-line catalogue seems to be down at the moment, but I will check to see if there is any detail in the accession record, which I neglected to check while I was there.

23rd July 2007, 04:02 PM	#1
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	Wooden daab blades at the Smithsonian Here is a sample of the other main reason from my latest visit to the Smithsonian (when I examined the controversial katana-style Thai daab). There is a collection of 34 wooden blades, ranging in size from a few centimeters up to about 59 centimeters. They are full replicas of blades, with proper dimensions of blade, tang, spine, etc. (or at least as close as one can expect to come in the softer medium of wood). The shapes are quite fantastic, with the larger ones showing the most unusual of the shapes. Some of the larger ones had writing on them, which I attempted to photograph with mixed success. These were donated to the Smithsonian by the Siamese government after the Louisiana Purchase Centennial Exposition in 1903, along with many other pieces, and I assume that they were displayed in the Siamese Pavilion. I am hoping that our Thai colleagues can shed some light on these mysterious items. Two possibilities that occurred to me were (a) that they are models actually used by smiths for customers to choose what style blade to have made, and (b) that they are models meant purely to show the variety of Thai blade styles, perhaps made specifically for the exhibition. The Natural History Museum on-line catalogue seems to be down at the moment, but I will check to see if there is any detail in the accession record, which I neglected to check while I was there. Attached Images