Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

dennee · 16th July 2005, 03:05 PM

Tim,

Thanks for the photo. I confess that I couldn't make out the details of the weapon very well, so I went to the color photo in Jacobs. In that picture, it is also impossible to see the blade, but the hilt is more visible. While it may be shorter than the average Naga axe hilt, it otherwise seems fairly typical. It is round in section, without the swelling, elliptical pommel of the Kachin (or Khamti) dao. There are two plaited cane rings, presumably for grip, which is less common on Naga weapons, but certainly not unheard of (on your first post, there is colored plaited cane on the lower part of the haft, for instance). The Kachin type dao usually has some sort of cane along the entire grip, frequently lacquered. The Kachin dao also often had a brass ferule at the lower part of the hilt and a contrasting material, often ivory, as a pommel cap. Of course, there are many examples that have simple wood pommels, also "swollen"--probably more common, representing wealth differences, and possibly more common in the early twentieth century?

16th July 2005, 03:05 PM	#12
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	Tim, Thanks for the photo. I confess that I couldn't make out the details of the weapon very well, so I went to the color photo in Jacobs. In that picture, it is also impossible to see the blade, but the hilt is more visible. While it may be shorter than the average Naga axe hilt, it otherwise seems fairly typical. It is round in section, without the swelling, elliptical pommel of the Kachin (or Khamti) dao. There are two plaited cane rings, presumably for grip, which is less common on Naga weapons, but certainly not unheard of (on your first post, there is colored plaited cane on the lower part of the haft, for instance). The Kachin type dao usually has some sort of cane along the entire grip, frequently lacquered. The Kachin dao also often had a brass ferule at the lower part of the hilt and a contrasting material, often ivory, as a pommel cap. Of course, there are many examples that have simple wood pommels, also "swollen"--probably more common, representing wealth differences, and possibly more common in the early twentieth century?