'Dha' blade restoration, are they laminated?

[Gavin Nugent]

I stand corrected Gene,

Thanks to James, a reader of the forum, I have received more exact detailing via email.

Some extact from the mail.

It is a meed or mead, it is the Thai - siam form of a kukri and it is from the lao thai people of the north of Siam
Some say they are related to the Tibetans and lower foothill tribal peoples from the himalaya and this is a slightly modified form of the kukri or at least thats where they originated from, some are shaped slightly different and have an upswept point and some are flat cutting edge but have a curved spine with a weighty mid to tip that is thicker and curved at the spine.

He notes many of them are very old as that yours is and probably early 19th century and northern Thai by the decoration.
He has also heard them called e nep and has seen them up to 2 feet long in the blade, the tribal guys in the north use them in everyday use..and the hilt is straight or slightly downcurving and usualy of hardwood and turned with a steel ferrule.

He also notes the tang is bent up the wrong way on yours, it should be curving very slightly downward and adds he has never yet seen one from Burma so I stand corrected.

Below is the image from the auction house some time back, quite a high end one from my perspective, great silver work and great ivory.

Gav