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#1 |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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Hello Everyone, Would like to share these photos of a Guom I have had for a long time and would appreciate any comments you may have, particularly with regard to age and use. the scabbard and hilt are nicely made and decorated but the blade seems pretty rough to me and not up to the same standard. Were they just for show? We have a saying which may sound crude but, to me, aptly describes the subject sword and that is "All fur coat and no knickers"
![]() Regards Miguel |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,731
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Hello Miguel,
from the outside it's indeed a very nice guom which show age and wear but in a very good condition. Turn of the centuries? Would like to see some close-up's from the blade but it seems indeed very rough worked. Is it laminated? Thick or thin? The sword will look beautiful on the wall! ![]() ![]() ![]() Regards, Detlef |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,731
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Here a link to a similar one: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=guom
Also not the best blade quality. ![]() |
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#4 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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Regards Miguel |
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#5 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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The French confiscated as many of these swords as they could during their occupation and the Communists confiscated as many as they could of what remained during their rule so they would appear to be fairly scarce items and that I am lucky to own one ![]() Dimenions O/L with scabbard 36 ins, O/L without scabbard 32 ins, blade length 25.5 ins x 1 ins wide x 0.1875 ins thick. Now photos. Regards Miguel |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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Hello Miguel,
thank you very much for the additional pictures, indeed a a very rough worked blade, I am not able to tell if the blade is laminated, sorry. But I think that the blade could be used for a real fight when needed, nearly half cm thickness seems to be enough for a blade. A very nice and interesting sword, congrats! Regards, Detlef |
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#7 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,167
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Miguel:
Sorry to come to this one late. I recently returned from overseas and a bit jet lagged. IMO Detlef has correctly identified the age of this one as around 1900 or a little earlier. The low quality blades were common, and they were essentially parade swords--for show rather than combat. Surprisingly they are not all that rare given the history you noted. I think some that were confiscated were tucked away as "souvenirs" or sold off to foreigners. I have not seen any in my trips to Vietnam, but rather they seem to come up in European auctions and online from western dealers. Ian. |
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#8 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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![]() Regards Miguel |
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#9 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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Regards Miguel |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
Posts: 1,036
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There are a few of these on display in the history museums in Saigon and Hanoi, but it's true that the majority of examples appear on the Western antique arms market. For a long time they have been ID'd as Chinese ("warlord swords", haha) or even as Malay or Indonesian. It may well be that some were made for the tourist trade during the French colonial period, quality varies and I've run into a few that have nickel plated brass blades and fittings of exaggerated proportion and style. Others have fully functional blades, I have 3 in my collection which are very well made, at least 7mm thick at the forte and edges are tempered, all this on top of the fancy-shmancy inlays, carving, and chased silver. I once had a fourth one that incorporated a recycled French shortsword blade, badly pitted unfortunately. Looking at old photos, one sees that these weapons were regalia sabers for military mandarins. On parade, the officer was preceded by two subalterns, one holding the guom vertically in its scabbard (the blades were not drawn out) much like an English lord-mayor's bearing-sword, the other carrying the ceremonial parasol. On garrison duty, the guom was displayed vertically on a rack in front of the mandarin's tent. Years ago, the antiques magazine Arts of Asia ran an article on Vietnamese silverwork, and it mentioned these sabers fitted-up by silversmiths who specialized in such regalia, the trade being handed down for generations. The abdication of the Nguyen Dynasty's last emperor in 1945 and the disbanding of the imperial guard would have put an end to the market for these swords.
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#11 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 584
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Regards Miguel |
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