New book and swords: Tibetan

[RSWORD]

This first example is a short sword with a nice gilt and pierced iron scabbard. The hilt is of nicely done brass with red and green tassels. Probably a marriage of an older scabbard(18th/19th century) to a new handle(late 19th, early 20th century).

[RSWORD]

This example is a large example(29" blade) with an unusual hilt style. It shows strong Chinese influence in grip shape and guard/pommel shape. Guard and pommel with gold and silver koftgari.

[RSWORD]

This example also has close Chinese ties as it is a pommel type found amongst Chinese minorities groups along the Tibetan border. I have also seen this pommel type pictured with a Tibetan nomad herder.

[RSWORD]

This next example is a composite piece. It was probably assembled around the 40's or 50's utilizing really nice older, probably 19th century, silver panels with a steel scabbard and handle that does not follow historical styles, i.e., this grip is cylindrical where historically they tend to be rectangular.

[RSWORD]

This final example feels like the oldest. I would not be surprised if it was 18th century or earlier. Another unusual guard style with the round "vertical" guard and pierced iron mounts in the handle. The round guard probably had a pierced silver decoration at one time that is now gone.

[dennee]

Well done, RSWORD, I am excited to see your interesting examples. (I saw that you had successfully bid on the last one a couple of weeks ago and was interested to see what you thought upon examination. The "guard" generally conforms to the form of that in Stone, p. 594, No. 19, except that, as you suggest, the decorative part seems to have been lost.)

I have been wondering about the type attributed to minority peoples in the border regions. Superficially, at least, it is similar to some shown in photos of Daflas, Adi and Mishmi, for instance, but the grip/pommel is different from ones seen from those tribes. I have been wondering if that type might even be a simpler, earlier sort of military type from Central Tibet. I have also toyed with the idea that it could have been a trade sword, but I think the similarities between the tribal swords and these could just be incidental because they are all basic--it would seem like it would be easier to trade blades only rather than entire swords and that other peoples would "customize" them. I will post a photo of a similar sword in Drepung Monastery near Lhasa.

[dennee]

Hilt of sword in Drepung Gompa main hall (hung with inside-out ding jia coat, etc.)