Unknown Weapon

[clockwork]

Hi guys I picked up a new piece while in china and I have no idea what it is. I was told the martial art masters were the only ones that used it. It reminds me of a skinny mace with a protective cover. It is 20 and 3/4 inches long total and 18 and 1/4. with out the cover. it has a hole in the back and a sliding metal clasp to keep the cover from coming open. The second item I picked up in china is a hand cannon and it 37 and half centimetres or 15 inches long at the widest point is 2 and 1/4 inches I think there is some writing near the base but not sure how to clean it with out hurting it. the bore is 3/4 inch. the length of the barrel is about 10 and the wood pole goes in about 3 and 1/4. Fernando will be posting pics soon 4 me.

[fernando]

Pictures.


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[fernando]

A couple more.

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[clockwork]

thanks Fernando

[Battara]

The second looks like a type of cannon, but what it the first one?

[fernando]

That's precisely the question

[colin henshaw]

My guess is its to be stuck in the ground and used to tether either a bird or smallish animal. Perhaps hens/geese in a market or a bird of prey as in falconry, or something like a ferret as used in hunting

The iron sheath is just protective and the hole in the thick end to thread a cord or thong through.

Regards.

[clockwork]

Well its a shame we cold not figure out what this is, But thank you for all the input. Maybe in the future I will figure it out.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by clockwork

Well its a shame we cold not figure out what this is, But thank you for all the input. Maybe in the future I will figure it out.

Salaams clockwork~ I think you will find that a number of posts indicate exactly what you have... a set of scales.. albeit incomplete i.e. minus the weighing dishes.. I would say for measuring spices etc

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[David]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams clockwork~ I think you will find that a number of posts indicate exactly what you have... a set of scales.. albeit incomplete i.e. minus the weighing dishes.. I would say for measuring spices etc
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Well, i'd hardly say there has been ANY definitive answer to what this first item might be. When i look back over this thread i find exactly one other person who seems to fully agree with you on the scale possibility. Not much of a consensus there. If it is a scale there are an awful lot of oddities about it.
1. Why would a scale have a balance bar that is drastically unbalanced in weight. Clockwork has stated that all the weight is on the side with the hole.
2. How would the missing weighing trays hang? There is only a hole on one end of the unbalanced balance bar.
3. Why would one end of a scale's balance bar be dangerously sharpened like a spear?
Frankly, while interesting, i think we are spending an awful amount of time discussing an implement that most probably is not a weapon...but i don't think it is a scale either....

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams David,
I agree with your point 3 in particular... however, since we have a debate I was thinking about the floating "d ring" well described at #1 as a sliding metal clasp, which, it is assumed keeps the assembly in place when being transported... but which is, I suspect, the hanging point of one side of the scales so that there are, in fact, not two dishes... but one ... so that the scales follow a similar style to chinese opium scales. That would also explain why there is no hole in the redundant other end.. The other missing parts are the weighing dish and its likely 4 hanging cords and the hook and weight assembly built to hang on the "d ring" which is mobile across its bar. It would appear that the graticules determining weight are inscribed on the bar itself... which is also the case at #1 .

See Chinese Opium Scale picture below;

I agree this does not appear to be a weapon.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.