Chinese sword old or ??

[josh stout]

This style of double weapon seems to be later, but genuine examples exist. Scott Rodell has one that looks like a standard late issue Qing military short sword with the extra hidden blade. I have one that may have been put together later (1900-1940), but with older inserted edge blades. There was a time when they were not uncommon on eBay, but I have not seen them in a while.

Yours looks like it may have been refurbished, or it may be newer. I have not seen the snake skin looking covering on old dao. Mine and Scott's were the typical black leather. The fittings look genuine, but do not have the patina of something old, but they just might have been well cared for.

The tassel is not in a typical style. The most common tassel attachment is through a hole in the handle. The late Qing way to do a tassel like that involves a fixed ring attached to the hole in the handle, and then a tassel through that. Yours looks like some modern designs I have seen, with the ring added.

For me the bottom line is the blades. Do they have inserted edges?
Josh