simple Tibetan saber for comment

josh stout · 9th August 2007, 03:29 PM

Here is the side of the handle that looks older.
Josh

http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j6...rrent=05-1.jpg

spiral · 9th August 2007, 05:38 PM

Thanks, I see your point.

Spiral

dennee · 10th August 2007, 01:19 PM

Josh, sorry, I am just not familiar with this type, not having seen any before June--but since seeing five, I believe. In old photos of Amdowas and Horpas carrying swords, I have never seen that kind of hilt. I have seen similar chapes on Amdo swords (see, for instance, the circa 1930 photo by Griebenow in the Newark Museum, published in "Tibet: A Hidden World, 1905-1935), although photos are usually not terribly clear on that point, and hilts are often hidden by the bloused chubas worn by the subjects. But the visible hilts of such swords are of the typical trilobate type.

The scabbard of yours is not unusual in type, and the blade, of course, is standard, but having not even a vestigial guard is unusual. Even more atypical for Tibetan swords is having grip scales, the more so because they have to be pinned to or through the tang, something that I don't think one sees on any other Tibetan swords. Perhaps it's some sort of Mongol influence. I don't know.

josh stout · 11th August 2007, 05:04 AM

Yes I had also wondered about a Mongol feel to the hilts, but it was just speculation. They are from Western China along the Tibetan plateau, but I don't know why they are not well documented. The silverwork that I posted also came from the same type of saber.
Josh

dennee · 11th August 2007, 01:47 PM

The shape of the pommel suggests possible influence of the Chinese fang shi style. Ashoka Arts presently has a Tibetan knife with a zhibeidao-type blade and fittings that are strongly Chinese influenced, including a fang shi pommel. Another interesting thing is that there are pins on one side of the rayskin-wrapped grip (which actually seems a little unnecessary in that instance).

9th August 2007, 03:29 PM	#1
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	Here is the side of the handle that looks older. Josh http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j6...rrent=05-1.jpg

9th August 2007, 05:38 PM	#2
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Thanks, I see your point. Spiral

10th August 2007, 01:19 PM	#3
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	Josh, sorry, I am just not familiar with this type, not having seen any before June--but since seeing five, I believe. In old photos of Amdowas and Horpas carrying swords, I have never seen that kind of hilt. I have seen similar chapes on Amdo swords (see, for instance, the circa 1930 photo by Griebenow in the Newark Museum, published in "Tibet: A Hidden World, 1905-1935), although photos are usually not terribly clear on that point, and hilts are often hidden by the bloused chubas worn by the subjects. But the visible hilts of such swords are of the typical trilobate type. The scabbard of yours is not unusual in type, and the blade, of course, is standard, but having not even a vestigial guard is unusual. Even more atypical for Tibetan swords is having grip scales, the more so because they have to be pinned to or through the tang, something that I don't think one sees on any other Tibetan swords. Perhaps it's some sort of Mongol influence. I don't know.

11th August 2007, 05:04 AM	#4
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	Yes I had also wondered about a Mongol feel to the hilts, but it was just speculation. They are from Western China along the Tibetan plateau, but I don't know why they are not well documented. The silverwork that I posted also came from the same type of saber. Josh

11th August 2007, 01:47 PM	#5
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	The shape of the pommel suggests possible influence of the Chinese fang shi style. Ashoka Arts presently has a Tibetan knife with a zhibeidao-type blade and fittings that are strongly Chinese influenced, including a fang shi pommel. Another interesting thing is that there are pins on one side of the rayskin-wrapped grip (which actually seems a little unnecessary in that instance).