Dah for comment

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Ian

You have a Burmese dha probably from the second half of the 19th C or early 20th C. The koftgari work at forte, the widely fullered blade, and the tripartite hilt are typical Burmese work of that period. Your example appears to have some age to it and may be an early example of this style, which also includes the familiar story dha that employ the same koftgari technique on the blade. After about the 1920s these koftgari-decorated dha underwent a steady decline in the quality of materials and workmanship. Later versions had very poor quality blades, the koftgari work was more crudely executed, and repoussed brass hilts and scabbards were featured.

I have heard that many of this type of dha were made or sold in Rangoon (Yangon) to wealthy Burmese and British administrators, planters, and tourists. The fact that you picked it up in Yangon could be consistent with those accounts.

Nice dha. Congratulations on your find.

Ian.

A fair assessment Ian. First half of the 20th century would be my guess from the photos.

It does need to be added, that the "decline" in quality is not always true and each Dah must be looked at in context.
Quality and purity in dress and blade type did continue past WWII.

Gavin

[CharlesS]

I especially like the quality of the blade on your nice find. Congrats!

[Ian]

Dizos,

I should have also added that the scabbard is not entirely Burmese, which would have had a cord baldric wrapped around the throat. The scalloped fittings on the scabbard suggest a Chinese influence and the suspension ring could reflect Chinese or European traits--these features are found also on some other dha of this type. The brass mounted scabbard and hilt might well be early 20th C. work, as Gavin suggests.

Ian.

[JeffS]

Thank you for the valuable information.