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#1 | |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 987
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I recently visited the Asian Arms collection of the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History, and had the rare opportunity to examine a daab that was presented to President Franklin Pierce (President 1853-1857) by King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam. It has been on loan to the Museum of American History for many years, but was returned to the Natural History Museum's archive during renovations at the American History Museum.
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Last edited by Mark; 10th September 2007 at 04:07 PM. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 165
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Amazing. Thank you.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: McDonough, GA
Posts: 48
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Under any other circumstances, I would've assumed that this sword was a modern Chinese fake.
But as long as the documentation can be verified, I suppose it must be authentic. A fitting gift for President Pierce, I suppose. |
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#4 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 407
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Josh |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 1,725
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Thanks, Mark!
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#6 | |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,200
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#7 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 987
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The provenance is well-documented. Presidential gifts usually are. It was not recognized by the museum as what it was until 1969, but once identified for what it was, the documentation/provenance was good.
The blade really is exquisite, however the fittings are in my opinion sub-standard in their execution. Perhaps King Mongkut did not think much of Pres. Pierce, either. The workmanship on the metal fittings is rather rough, and do not have a good "fit and finish" with the blade and the scabbard. The scabbard in a couple of places has rough cut marks, for example around the notch cut for the kurikata, and where the chape joins the wood of the scabbard. Now I want to see what I can do in order to see the one in the National Archives. Last edited by Mark; 20th June 2007 at 11:18 PM. |
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#8 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,896
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Hi Mark,
Thank you so much for posting this and for the historical detail explaining the presence of Japanese swords in Siam. I have heard of the influences of Japanese swords and decoration techniques though primarily trade and diplomatic interaction in the East Indies in 18th century, as well as degree of such influence in swords of Vietnam. I recall in one reference (which I still question but cannot recall details) which showed what appeared a katana and captioned as from India with an odd name. While the India assessment was apparantly incorrect, the sword shown must have been of this group. It has always been fascinating to me when a weapon as distinctly indiginous as the Japanese katana appears in geographically distant and inconsistant cultural spheres. It seems that even in colonial New England one inventory lists a Japanese sword, and then there is of course the photo of Red Cloud at the end of the 19th century after the 'Indian Wars' with a katana mounted behind him on his wall. All the best, Jim |
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