sword

General view of object no. 15.103.
General view of object no. 15.103.
General view of object no. 15.103.
General view of object no. 15.103. General view of object no. 15.103. General view of object no. 15.103.

Single-edged sword, da dao, with long slender steel blade up-curving to the point. Wooden grip bound with wicker covered in red lacquer surmounted by an ovoid steel pommel covered with black lacquer. The steel guard is ovoid in shape and painted in black lacquer. Steel ring mounted on top grip just below guard also painted in black lacquer.

Swords of this type were made in the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644, to imitate the Japanese two-handed sword with long slender single-edged curved blade. See Zhou Wei (1957), 'Zhongguo bing qi shi gao', Beijing. pp. 262-263.

fighting

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
15.103
Date
Ming Dynasty
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 1593.85 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
steel; lacquer; wood; wicker
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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