Lovely Old Dha/Daab With Some Interesting Characteristics

Ian · 27th April 2022, 06:01 PM

Charles,

That is an extremely beautiful sword! It has a substantial amount of silver and clearly belonged to someone of considerable wealth and power. A couple of points to add to Nathan's assessment. The silver motifs on the hilt are not repeated on the silver mounts of the scabbard, which suggests to me that the sword and its scabbard were not made at the same time. I would also note that the silver designs on both are not commonly seen on Lao swords, although they may appear on other Lao silver work such as urns, pots, etc. Other possibilities might be southern Yunnan or northern Vietnam. I would like to hear Nathaniel's thoughts on the silver designs as they are outside my experience.

As far as the blade is concerned, I think we are on firmer ground. The unusual tip shape is very much associated with swords of the "Montagnard" groups, the mountain tribal groups straddling the border between Laos and Vietnam, extending to the north into China and to the south into Cambodia. It was common for many of these groups to acquire their daab, or at least the blades, from Lao smiths.

A comment also on the guard. Such multilobe, large discs are found on old Thai and Lao daab, and even some Cambodian daav. It's my belief, without much supporting evidence, that these were based on older Chinese designs that may have come via Yunnan of perhaps northern Vietnam (Cochin).

27th April 2022, 06:01 PM	#2
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,052	Charles, That is an extremely beautiful sword! It has a substantial amount of silver and clearly belonged to someone of considerable wealth and power. A couple of points to add to Nathan's assessment. The silver motifs on the hilt are not repeated on the silver mounts of the scabbard, which suggests to me that the sword and its scabbard were not made at the same time. I would also note that the silver designs on both are not commonly seen on Lao swords, although they may appear on other Lao silver work such as urns, pots, etc. Other possibilities might be southern Yunnan or northern Vietnam. I would like to hear Nathaniel's thoughts on the silver designs as they are outside my experience. As far as the blade is concerned, I think we are on firmer ground. The unusual tip shape is very much associated with swords of the "Montagnard" groups, the mountain tribal groups straddling the border between Laos and Vietnam, extending to the north into China and to the south into Cambodia. It was common for many of these groups to acquire their daab, or at least the blades, from Lao smiths. A comment also on the guard. Such multilobe, large discs are found on old Thai and Lao daab, and even some Cambodian daav. It's my belief, without much supporting evidence, that these were based on older Chinese designs that may have come via Yunnan of perhaps northern Vietnam (Cochin).