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Originally Posted by Tim Simmons
You have done it again, what a stunning piece, I love the handle. It would be intresting to find what the bone came from. My first thoughts are it is maybe from Burma then possibly anywhere between there and Indonesia. Somewhere that has monkeys? Tim
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Danged if it doesn't look a bit dha-like! I didn't make the connection before. I was looking at it up-side-down, essentially, seeing the straight side as the edge. The handle is of course very atypical for a dha, and the tapered wooden scabbard is well (when of this style they are usually of uniform width). But the plaited scabbard bindings, general shape of the blade and elongated handle make it rather dha-ish. Given the presence of a habaki and a small guard, and the use of the "Indochine" coin, I think that it is from the Annam region. This is the mountain chain that separates Vietnam (French Indochina) from Laos, Cambodia and points west. There are a variety of non-Viet ethnic groups that use more-or-less dha-like blades there, such as the Montagnard. Montagnard dha have a small guard (I have never seen one that is a coin, but it makes sense). The habaki I have seen more in dha from the eastern-most portions of "dha country" -- Laos, eastern Thailand, Cambodia. I can't say that I have seen one on a dha that I was certain was Burmese.
Ian has a bunch of swords from that area, so I expect he will have more to say.