Cambodian Dhas

Philip · 18th September 2007, 04:31 AM

Ariel,
When I compare the guard on your sword with the loose bronze Vietnamese guards (the excavated ones) I have, I note the following. Your specimen is thinner, and without any flange or raised border around the rim. Some of the decorative motifs on yours bear some similarity to Vietnamese work, albeit in lower relief and with somewhat less precision. The shape of the oval aperture is spot on to those of other Vietnamese saber guards I've seen elsewhere.

I am at a loss to explain the flaking or spalling to the surface of your specimen.

In one of the pictures you posted, taken from the hilt side, I notice that a bit of the central mortise (for the blade) seems to extend beyond the periphery of the grip ferrule. I wonder if the guard is associated, and came from a hilt that originally had a wider blade. The frontal side shows some sort of dark brown fill surrounding the blade where it emerges from the guard. I'm wondering if this was put on to hold the guard steady on the tang, considering the apparent differential between the tang and mortise widths.

From what I can see of the rest of the hilt (your photos are a bit dark), I don't see any typically Vietnamese design features. I doubt that guard and sword were "born together", and if the dha is Cambodian, it's possible that the guard may be an import from Vietnam, or a locally made copy thereof.

18th September 2007, 04:31 AM	#9
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Ariel, When I compare the guard on your sword with the loose bronze Vietnamese guards (the excavated ones) I have, I note the following. Your specimen is thinner, and without any flange or raised border around the rim. Some of the decorative motifs on yours bear some similarity to Vietnamese work, albeit in lower relief and with somewhat less precision. The shape of the oval aperture is spot on to those of other Vietnamese saber guards I've seen elsewhere. I am at a loss to explain the flaking or spalling to the surface of your specimen. In one of the pictures you posted, taken from the hilt side, I notice that a bit of the central mortise (for the blade) seems to extend beyond the periphery of the grip ferrule. I wonder if the guard is associated, and came from a hilt that originally had a wider blade. The frontal side shows some sort of dark brown fill surrounding the blade where it emerges from the guard. I'm wondering if this was put on to hold the guard steady on the tang, considering the apparent differential between the tang and mortise widths. From what I can see of the rest of the hilt (your photos are a bit dark), I don't see any typically Vietnamese design features. I doubt that guard and sword were "born together", and if the dha is Cambodian, it's possible that the guard may be an import from Vietnam, or a locally made copy thereof.