Chinese Saber Qianlong Period Dao

Status: Sold · Region: China, East Asia, Tibet · Type: Swords

A very rare complete sword dating to the mid 18th century. This example is from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor and reflects the design and aesthetics of early Chinese swords. The blade of this example is particularly rare.

With ridges on each side the style is associated with a style popularized bygeneral Qi Jiguang in the late Ming, referred to as Qijiadao -Qi family sabers. This form of blade is commonly associated with Japanese bladesbut the Japanese form isoriginally from China going as far back as the Warring States period. The faceted blades of the Sui and Tang dynasties that then travelled toJapan became the origin of the commonly known Japanese style of blades found on swords from the 11th century onward.

In China ridged orridged or faceted blades with the introductionnof the curved peidao during the Yuan period, and the popularity of groovedsurfaces. During the Ming Dynasty and the importation of Japanese bladesthe ridged style came back into fashion. This blade has a Japanese style curvaturewhere the deepest part of the curve is closer to the hilt than the point. Thetypical peidao tends to follow the Central Asian pattern with deeper curve betweenmidpoint and tip.

The blade was made by a highly skilled smith and displays Chinese damascus patterning throughout in addition the insertion of a hardened blackened edge for a horsetooth pattern. The blade iswell-tempered, with ridges and facets on each side, the contours and surfacesvery precisely shaped and the very sharp edge maintains a perfect arcwithout nicks or irregular sharpening. The surface is clean with someisolated speckles of old oxydation, with a small scattering of larger pits (mostlytowards the region of the tip) with one small blister opened up by corrosionon the left side near midpoint. There are no bends, nicks, of cracks and the tip is sharp and not rounded-off.

The mounts are original and rare to find with any decoration remaining. These iron mounts were damascened in silver with dragons, some of which remains and can be seen on the crossguard and scabbard chape. The dragons are three-toed indicating that the sword belonged to an officer who saw battle and was likely not of royal descent.

A rare sword. Overall length is 32, blade is 26 1/4.