19th Century Bhutan dagger?

dennee · 3rd January 2009, 11:21 PM

I wouldn't necessarily date it to the 19th century, as the Bhutanese made swords and daggers in the traditional way until about 50 years ago (and had some Indian replicas made later and are now returning to traditional manufacture).

On average, the weapons with the sheet metal pommels are probably more recent than the pierced ones, although the types obviously overlap. Writing in 1910, J. Claude White, a British diplomat in Sikkim and Bhutan, characterized the pierced work, as on the traditional pommels, as almost a lost art.

The pierced pommels were much more expensive. (So what did a poor man do if he couldn't afford a pierced iron or silver pommel? Probably had a bare horn or wood hilt on a working blade.)

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3rd January 2009, 11:21 PM	#2
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	I wouldn't necessarily date it to the 19th century, as the Bhutanese made swords and daggers in the traditional way until about 50 years ago (and had some Indian replicas made later and are now returning to traditional manufacture). On average, the weapons with the sheet metal pommels are probably more recent than the pierced ones, although the types obviously overlap. Writing in 1910, J. Claude White, a British diplomat in Sikkim and Bhutan, characterized the pierced work, as on the traditional pommels, as almost a lost art. The pierced pommels were much more expensive. (So what did a poor man do if he couldn't afford a pierced iron or silver pommel? Probably had a bare horn or wood hilt on a working blade.)