Dha-hmyaung

[Ian]

Robert,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Been busy with family stuff today.

Below are a few pictures of dha myaung, mostly from the Oriental Arms web site (apologies to Artzi Yarom), one or two of mine, and a few from other sources including the History of SE Asian Steel site. I have tried to show a range of styles that do not feature ivory--primarily silver clad hilts. For the point of discussion, I've classified the styles into "Burmese," "Thai," and "Lao." Even though these are probably all made by the Shan/Tai in the Golden Triangle area, those broad styles can be defined.

The first one is one of mine that has a copper/gold overlay on the wooden scabbard and hilt. These are old pictures that I posted here more than 10 years ago (sorry about the quality). I would call this one "Burmese" in style.

The next one is a fairly plain silver hilt and most likely Thai, but could be Burmese, in style. Most of the handle is wrapped in silver wire rather than silver sheet--the wire is more durable than the solid sheet, does not wrinkle or pleat, and is easier to replace if damaged.

The next two are Thai in style, each with a prominent ring (sub-hilt) about one-third of the way up the handle and a large lotus bud pommel. These pommels are quite common on silver-decorated Shan/Tai knives and swords.

The next one is very similar but has different decorations (spiral patterns) on the scabbard. It appears to be older than the other two with lotus pommels. The scabbard decoration strikes me as Lao more than Thai, but since the Lao are also ethnic Tai, and Lao styles have had a strong influence on Thai swords and knives, this may be splitting hairs.

The next one is not very old IMHO, and shows more of a Burmese style, with no sub-hilt or fancy lotus pommel.

The last one is probably second half of the 20th C, with heavily repoussed silver work, paneled "scenes," and spiral wire work near the toe of the scabbard, all of which are strong Lao features.

I hope these pics can help you with your decisions, Robert. You have a fair amount of variation in styles and complexity to choose from.

Your knife seems to have a degree of age to it. Based on others I have seen, I would say it probably has been around for about 100+/- years. It is a great pity that the ivory hilt was removed, but then it would have been much more expensive and you would not have the opportunity to bring it back to life.

Regards,

Ian.

[Robert]

Ian,
Thank you very much for the photos showing of some of the many different hilt styles that I now know were used on these interesting knives/daggers. As the one that I have acquired looks to originally have had a hilt the seller has described as being made from ivory (though I am starting to believe that it could have just as easily been made of bone) I think it would be best if I replaced it with one made from one of these two materials. If I cannot find a piece of ivory suitable for this at a price that I can afford then bone will be my second choice. My next question is if I were to use ivory, what type would originally have been most commonly used on these? The same question would also apply if I were to use bone. Thank you again for your help.

Best,
Robert

[Sajen]

Hello Robert,

nearly all ivory hilts I have seen were from elephant ivory.

Regards,
Detlef

[Nathaniel]

Hello Robert,

Thank you for sharing. That is correct this would have had a straight cylindrical ivory handle probably 4-5 inches long. There are some alternative ivory that knife makers used made out of different plastics. Or you could even look to see if you could use some type of antler, horn or bone. Or even just put some type of wood on there..you could even pick one with a slight yellow tinge to it so it would look like the aged ivory...the lines in the wood might even look like some of the age cracks you see in ivory as well.

[ariel]

There is a complete similar " Dha dagger" with bone handle and silver scabbard and pommel on e-bay now for $65.

Unless you wanted to buy an amusement project, I wouldn't see much reason in acquiring a broken thing and investing money and a lot of time to give it a semblance of authenticity. Thai professionals will always do a better job.

My 2 cents.

[Robert]

Hello Ariel, I would say the main reason for my acquiring a "broken thing" and investing my money and my time into giving it a semblance of authenticity again is that I would rather have an older example that needs a little work than a shiny new one made for the tourist market. I was also unaware that for someone be able to produce a small round rod shaped price of ivory or bone from a larger unworked piece required them to be born in a particular part of the world just to do an acceptable job of it.

Best,
Robert

[ariel]

Wish you luck with your restoration project.