Dagger

Facebook Post 142 Scheduled for 2018 05 02 by Edmund Rooney: This Bhutanese style dagger and sheath displays many of the traditional features and techniques of Himalayan metalwork. The set is a part of a generous donation from Robert and Donna Helmholz of several hundred artifacts from around the world.

Metal workers of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and Northern India have a long tradition of producing daggers, swords, and other edged weapons for daily use, combat, and ceremonial purposes. The combination of different types and colors of metals is a characteristic of weapon construction from the Himalayan region. You can see this feature on the sheath, hilt, and pommel (the knob at the end of the handle). The rounded ends of the pommel and sheath are also features of Bhutanese daggers.

This extremely sharp dagger has a pronounced groove, sometimes referred to as a “blood groove,” that makes it lighter and easier to handle. The sheath has a leather strap that may have been used to attach the dagger to a user’s belt.

The patterns too are typical of this larger region and illustrate cross-cultural influences between Bhutanese, Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese, and North Indian cultures, as well as the pervasive Buddhist influence on all of these cultures. The dragon and bird (possibly a fenghuang, an auspicious mythological bird) on the sheath are both Buddhist symbols that, when shown together, represent the union of a man and a woman in marriage. A Chinese-style butterfly appears above the phoenix. The handle is decorated with more butterflies and a prominent lotus-like flower. The lotus design symbolizes purity and is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of the Buddhist faith.

images: 2012.10.0179A-B.2 [[and please choose other detail shots or crops that you like!]]

Resources:

Altmann, Karin, Fabric of Life: Textile Arts in Bhutan—Culture, Tradition and Transformation, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2016.

“Fenghuang,” Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/fenghuang

LaRocca, Donald J., Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006.

Altmann, Karin, Fabric of Life: Textile Arts in Bhutan—Culture, Tradition and Transformation, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2016.

“Fenghuang,” Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/fenghuang

LaRocca, Donald J., Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006.