Hello all,
I've lurked for many years soaking up the accumulated wisdom of the forum - never felt I had anything to contribute other than more questions.
But I do now have some items in my collection that I would like to share and see if others can cast some light into the shadows of my ignorance
I thought I might start with something small, and one of the first things to make its way into my life.
I had the good fortune to spend a few weeks in Tibet in the mid 90s. I was warned before I went that at that time, any blades I purchased would almost certainly be confiscated when I crossed the border, unless they were new. As it was, I didn't see anything except for bazaar pieces aimed at the tourist market.
However, on the second day in Lhasa I spotted a couple of small items on a street stall and picked them up for a few pennies - less than the cost of a snack. This is the first piece. A tri-lobate arrowhead. I stuck it in a pocket where it then stayed for a good few months of travel.
Over the years it's surfaced a few times and triggered brief bouts of research. At first I assumed it was a local or Chinese arrow. I now have a couple of Chinese arrowheads, and have seen many others, and this does not seem to be a common weapon form from that part of the world (speaking from a position of little information though). Perhaps Tibetan arrows were of this form at some point - I'm hoping those with greater knowledge will be able to enlighten me.
A friend from the Arms & Armour Society thought it was Greek, and I briefly entertained the idea that this was a relic from one of Alexander's armies that somehow made its way north.
As my knowledge of arms increased I realised that an enormous number of modern copies of old designs come out of China and I came to the conclusion my piece was not original. Under certain lights the patination seems brushed on. The casting is poor - air bubbles in the mould. A hole in the socket as if to fix the head to the shaft - is that how they would have been attached? And of course consider where it was found - the Xizang Autonomous Region.
Then again, it doesn't feel fake - I've handled a number of items over the years where the weight, balance, design and thickness were clearly not right. The edges and point on this head are fine and sharp - exactly as I would expect on an efficient arrow. When I was there I kept checking back with the stall-holder whenever I passed and she never had anything else of interest - so not a conduit for replicas as far as I could tell. And why fake an arrow head? So much effort for so little reward.
Then it recently occurred to me that it did resemble the end of a phurba. A new line of research which led me to Tibetan amulets called thogchags/thokchas. And this I think is what I actually have - an amulet, not an arrowhead. If you google thogchag, among the many images you will find groups of amulets that look exactly like this piece. Now, maybe they are arrowheads repurposed as amulets, or maybe amulets designed to look like arrowheads, I don't know.
So possibly not a weapon at all - but still a fascinating piece of a far distant culture that has teased my mind for many years and led me down numerous dusty corridors of the internet, and into many a conversation I might never have had, in search of that final piece of the puzzle.
This is my current conclusion - but I would be interested if anyone has any knowledge to add to this story, or can point out any flaws in my logic.