dao sword , Qing period , willow leaf ?...

Peter Dekker · 2nd March 2019, 11:04 AM

Hi guys,

Nice piece! Yours is a standard pattern Qing military officer's saber of the mid 19th century, probably of northern origin, possibly Beijing. The greenish grip wrap was once a deep indigo blue.

While they superficially all tend to look the same, these come in a rather wide variety of qualities. I'd say your blade is among the better ones, with very precisely cut grooves. The work on the mounts is more standard quality for this type.

Officers got fixed payments in silver to purchase their equipment, and so focussed on what they found important. In your case, he put extra care in the blade.

These Islamic style grooves probably made their way into China already during times of Mongol rule and were produced throughout the empire by the 18th century. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journ...f.bannered.pdf

I've had several over the years. The pictures posted above by Kronckew are from my site. Here's the full article:
http://mandarinmansion.com/chinese-officer-saber

Another one, with rare blade:
http://mandarinmansion.com/chinese-s...se-tooth-blade

An exceptional one:
http://mandarinmansion.com/rare-chin...ist-core-saber

And finally, an example of the plain type that the regular soldiers would be carrying:
http://mandarinmansion.com/19th-cent...military-saber

As for restoring, I'm not sure where you are located but if I were you I'd send it over to Philip Tom for a good fix.

I hope this helps!

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2nd March 2019, 11:04 AM	#9
Peter Dekker Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kingdom of the Netherlands Posts: 63	Hi guys, Nice piece! Yours is a standard pattern Qing military officer's saber of the mid 19th century, probably of northern origin, possibly Beijing. The greenish grip wrap was once a deep indigo blue. While they superficially all tend to look the same, these come in a rather wide variety of qualities. I'd say your blade is among the better ones, with very precisely cut grooves. The work on the mounts is more standard quality for this type. Officers got fixed payments in silver to purchase their equipment, and so focussed on what they found important. In your case, he put extra care in the blade. These Islamic style grooves probably made their way into China already during times of Mongol rule and were produced throughout the empire by the 18th century. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journ...f.bannered.pdf I've had several over the years. The pictures posted above by Kronckew are from my site. Here's the full article: http://mandarinmansion.com/chinese-officer-saber Another one, with rare blade: http://mandarinmansion.com/chinese-s...se-tooth-blade An exceptional one: http://mandarinmansion.com/rare-chin...ist-core-saber And finally, an example of the plain type that the regular soldiers would be carrying: http://mandarinmansion.com/19th-cent...military-saber As for restoring, I'm not sure where you are located but if I were you I'd send it over to Philip Tom for a good fix. I hope this helps!