What do we call it?

drdavid · 7th January 2006, 02:11 AM

Hi all
I just received this lovely piece. It was called a Dha by the seller (thanks Alan) but he was not sure whether that was the correct title. The thing has real heft and the ivory a lovely patina. Overall length is 33 cms. I am also curious as to what people think about the age of the piece. It has been in seller's family since 1920's.
with thanks
drdavid

Mark · 7th January 2006, 02:39 AM

The wonderful thing about "dha" is that it corrrectly refers to anything from Burma with one edge.

Anyway, this is a dha, more precisely a dha-hmyaung (roughly translated as "dagger," as opposed to "knife" with its more utilitarian meaning). Its hard to say which part of Burma it is from, but they are most often used in North and northeast of Burma.

It looks like a nice piece.

Mark · 7th January 2006, 02:44 AM

PS: this might qualify as a "priest knife," which are carried by Buddhist monks and have a ritual use. Those have the downward, rather than upward curve, but usually have a little nose right at the tip that turns up again. The blades are usually decorated with engraving, too. I would say yours is not a priest knife, but I just bring it up because there is the resemblance.

Andrew · 7th January 2006, 03:01 AM

Mark, further to our earlier telephone conversation, I see a Chinese influence in the scalloped scabard decoration.

The taper to the scabbard on this (and other similar daggers) seems similar to that of your Yunan dagger, no?

7th January 2006, 02:11 AM	#1
drdavid Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 371	What do we call it? Hi all I just received this lovely piece. It was called a Dha by the seller (thanks Alan) but he was not sure whether that was the correct title. The thing has real heft and the ivory a lovely patina. Overall length is 33 cms. I am also curious as to what people think about the age of the piece. It has been in seller's family since 1920's. with thanks drdavid Attached Images

7th January 2006, 02:39 AM	#2
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	The wonderful thing about "dha" is that it corrrectly refers to anything from Burma with one edge. Anyway, this is a dha, more precisely a dha-hmyaung (roughly translated as "dagger," as opposed to "knife" with its more utilitarian meaning). Its hard to say which part of Burma it is from, but they are most often used in North and northeast of Burma. It looks like a nice piece.

7th January 2006, 02:44 AM	#3
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	PS: this might qualify as a "priest knife," which are carried by Buddhist monks and have a ritual use. Those have the downward, rather than upward curve, but usually have a little nose right at the tip that turns up again. The blades are usually decorated with engraving, too. I would say yours is not a priest knife, but I just bring it up because there is the resemblance.

7th January 2006, 03:01 AM	#4
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Mark, further to our earlier telephone conversation, I see a Chinese influence in the scalloped scabard decoration. The taper to the scabbard on this (and other similar daggers) seems similar to that of your Yunan dagger, no?