Lao Dha/daab
 

My latest dha/daab, oal 83.5 cm, sword 81.5 cm, handle 26 cm and thickness of blade against handle 9 mm. It could be a sword from Laos. On Iain Norman's excellent homepage on Asian swords, in the article: the sword of the elephant, similar specimens but still some differences.
My dha has no handguard, the hilt is damaged but seemed to have been wrapped entirely with a thin white/gray metal rather than cast brass/bronze. The decoration of the handle against the guard is rather rudimentary, the knob at the end then resembles the specimens shown. The blade has had a hard life, with a bent piece in the center with two notches in the edge, must have been a violent impact. On the blade on both sides two light decorations. Sheath is in fair condition, the black rope seems recent (plastic?). Opinions welcome.

Regards
Marc

Hi Marc,

That one looks in pretty rough rough shape but it might clean up well. It needs a good clean to assess the hilt more clearly and the blade too. I think I see some areas of delamination of the blade—is that the case? I agree that it is a daab, probably Lao, 19th C.

Iain will give you a more definitive answer.

Hi Ian
Thanks for your response, the handle is indeed in a rough state. I have tried to polish the metal but with little result.The remaining metal is quite brittle, especially at the pommel.Where the metal is gone there is a hard material, looks like some kind of resin, a bit strange.The blade has some flaws in the steel probably due to impurities during melting, probably native steel.
Regards.
Marc

I hope a side question is ok while we wait for comments. Have we discussed these common markings? They are, of course, very present on tourist pieces from Thailand and I usually take it as a bad sign when I see them. However, you do see them on clearly authentic, and old pieces, as the case with this sword. I've also attached a Montagnard daab, featuring these marks, that was collecting in the Central Highlands Vietnam early in the American War there (only picture I had on hand but you can still note the markings despite low resolution.) How far back does this practice go, what geographic footprint would we expect to see them?

The sword in question was once a very nice sword, sadly it's left as a relic only. The stuff at the handle is indeed a mixture with resin and other components to form the thin silver cover which is mostly gone. It's a similar technique which was used by keris handles.

Hi Jeff,

Yes, we had this discussion before. These markings are old and traditionell and not only seen on these tourist dha.
Here is a Thai dha from my own collection, clearly old, I guess around the first quarter of the 20th century, with similar engravings on the blade.

Regards,
Detlef

Hi Detlef
From the seller's photos I could tell that the dha was old but the condition was indeed not great. But still interesting enough for me to buy, small price though.
I don't come across this shape that often.
Regards
Marc

Hi Marc,

I don't want to make your dha a bad buy. But it's a relic, good enough for study! ;)

Regards,
Detlef

In my view this is a late 19th century Laotian sword, although it can be from the neighboring Lanna regions.

The resin you mentioned is the usual tree resin used to fix blades and handles. Very multipurpose for dha/daab and you will find it used to glue down all sorts of materials.

The blade decorations are typical in both Lanna and Laos and can be found on blades with great age and of course newer 'touristic' swords. They are not a sign of a good or blade in their own right and need to be assessed with the whole sword.