Interesting dha

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Ian

Hi Gavin:

Thank you for the comments. Much appreciated.

As to the scabbard with its brass bands. If we consult the Dha Index that Mark Bowditch put together some time ago, we find that the metal banded scabbards on dha are found with Burman and Shan swords. The one Kachin-designated metal-wrapped scabbard is C0052, which is one of mine. I had labeled it Kachin because I found a press photograph of a Kachin leader who carried an identical sword. This was a photograph taken in the late 20th C of a man in a business suit at the head of a Kachin rally. In retrospect, not much evidence for a Kachin origin.

More recent information suggests that the particular sword shown as C0052 is actually of Shan/Lanna manufacture. The polygonal sub-hilt and silver wire decoration on the hilt and scabbard are typical Shan/Lanna work. The woven silver wire handle is not found on Thai swords but is typical for Burmese swords. Thus C0052 is probably Burmese (Shan).

In any case, we don't find the style of metal bands seen on the knife that is the subject of this post on Kachin swords, at least based on the sample shown in the Dha Index. That fits with my personal experience also of examining more than 50 Kachin swords.

As far as full length fullers on dha, these are never seen on Thai swords (according to our friend PUFF who posted that information on this Forum). Nor have I seen them on a Burman sword. They do exist on Kachin dha but are uncommon, and I have only seen them with dha having a wide concave tip.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure this tip has been altered. Some of the seller's pictures show a different hue to the last couple of inches at the tip compared with the rest of the blade. The final version of the tip is not found on Burmese dha and the Thai forms of pointed tip on sword length dha are more rounded and not as tapering as this example.

Ian.

Hi Ian,

I could count 200+ such scabbards with these bands on Burmese and Burmese Kachin swords in the years passed and still a half dozen passed every month or two. The blades in my opinion are a shadow of their older brothers...still usable, of the same style but not of the same quality in construction or finish.
I am sure the site you refer to alludes to Kachin use for a number of these Burmese types with Kachin style blades.
These types shown and those with the simple brass or white metal bands are all being what I consider a modern production, late & post colonialism, WWII and also a production continued today in Yunnan

I personally consider these bands on the scabbard from the 30/40’s through to now and most being out of the UK, no doubt bought home by visitors hungry for trophies. Being a current UK sale too adds a little weight to it.

One could contact Alex Tsu to view privately his photos from the 1980s of Burmese Kachan and Shan swords being manufactured in Yunnan…many different types of Dha and Tibetan daggers for export. I’d say it is one of these items and as modern items go, the sky is the limit as to what is done for the market place.

I am confused about your reference to C0052 though, its visual appearance doesn’t have any relevance to the initial piece you place up for discussion…please help me here?? You reference Shan/Lanna, would it not be more correct to say Shan alone or Thai Shan as Lanna was a kingdom that did not exist beyond the end of the 18th century and the knife is not of that age.

Gavin