Inventory

PAIR OF HUGE DHA SWORDS

Full Description:

Two large ceremonial swords from Northern Thailand which date to the 19^th century. The hilts comprise wooden cores covered with silver sheet which has been divided into nine panels of fine and detailed repoussé decoration, with chased floral and geometric designs indicative of Thai style. The panels are separated by silver bands with a large bulbous pommel of segmented decoration.  The swords’ curving blades each convey the identical profile of a flickering flame.

A similar, shorter sword is preserved in the National Museum, Bangkok. Illustrated and described by Panchaphan as a “Lanna-style” sword,[i] it is presumed that Panchaphan is referring to the Kingdom of Lan Na, an Indianised state centered in present-day Northern Thailand during the 13^th to 18^th centuries. 

Provenance

Private collection USA

Runjeet Singh 2015

London art market

Literature

Singh, 2015, Arms & Armour of the East, p.60-61.