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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greenville, NC
Posts: 1,855
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When I first saw this dha/daab I was immediately impressed by the quality of the silverwork. The guard seemed more of a puzzle, though, and looked much like the work I have seen on Vietnamese swords(which are definitely NOT in my area of knowledge). The scabbard wood also reminded me of Vietnamese scabbards for dress swords. With my curiosity piqued, I checked in with one of our resident dha/daab researchers and experts, Nathaniel Hope, to get his input. While I had thought this was a Thai/Vietnamese combination he pointed to a more likely Lao/Vietnamese combination, explaining that the silver artwork and motifs were more typically Lao, but agreeing that the sword had a VERY strong Vietnamese influence.
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#2 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,153
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Charles,
That is an extremely beautiful sword! It has a substantial amount of silver and clearly belonged to someone of considerable wealth and power. A couple of points to add to Nathan's assessment. The silver motifs on the hilt are not repeated on the silver mounts of the scabbard, which suggests to me that the sword and its scabbard were not made at the same time. I would also note that the silver designs on both are not commonly seen on Lao swords, although they may appear on other Lao silver work such as urns, pots, etc. Other possibilities might be southern Yunnan or northern Vietnam. I would like to hear Nathaniel's thoughts on the silver designs as they are outside my experience. As far as the blade is concerned, I think we are on firmer ground. The unusual tip shape is very much associated with swords of the "Montagnard" groups, the mountain tribal groups straddling the border between Laos and Vietnam, extending to the north into China and to the south into Cambodia. It was common for many of these groups to acquire their daab, or at least the blades, from Lao smiths. A comment also on the guard. Such multilobe, large discs are found on old Thai and Lao daab, and even some Cambodian daav. It's my belief, without much supporting evidence, that these were based on older Chinese designs that may have come via Yunnan of perhaps northern Vietnam (Cochin). |
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#3 | |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
Posts: 1,036
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#4 | |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
Posts: 1,036
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Subsequent to the museum visit, an antiques dealer in Saigon showed me a similar one, which unfortunately I was not able to acquire. And a couple years later I noticed one of similar quality to that featured in this thread, in a private collection in Israel of all places, which was not for sale. |
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#5 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
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Thanks Philip. That's an interesting story. I did not recognize the silver work as Lao, and have little experience with Vietnamese silver designs. It's nice to have your clear ID of its Viet origin.
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#6 |
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Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 113
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Superb specimen!
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