Nioi (匂)
Japanese word for fine martensite crystals in the blade's temperline.
Nie (沸)
Japanese word for martensite crystals that form in blade under certain conditions.
Southeast Asian sword club
This enigmatic hardwood club is modeled after a sword.
Khmer dagger
A rare thousand-year-old dagger from the Khmer empire.
Fine Burmese silver sword scabbard
It represents the best of Burmese silversmithing with repousse work in high relief.
Persian wootz double spearhead
Finely crafted wootz blade, and golden inlays at the base.
Persian wootz spearhead
Made using Persian wootz. Pronounced features, chiseled socket.
Studded Eastern Tibetan dagger
Of Kham area regional style, with a grip studded with turquoises and corals.
Kutch shamshir for Benson
Blade of Persian shamshir form, but of Indian make. Mounts in Kutch style gilt copper.
South Indian pattisa
An early example, late Vijayanagara empire, with a fine wootz spatulate blade.
A fine north Indian dagger
Of jambiya form, with pattern welded blade and fine silver scabbard mounts.
Palembang twist-core pedang
A Palembang style sword with a fine twist-core blade and carved hardwood scabbard.
Shakudō (赤銅)
A Japanese alloy containing copper and gold.
Rooster fight kozuka
Executed in gold and silver on a shakudō nanako base, with golden back.
Suassa
A copper-alloy with high gold content that was highly prized in Southeast Asia.
Samrit (សំរិត)
Khmer word for an auspicious copper alloy.
Sawasa
A term used for colonial Asian metalwork in black and gold.
Chinese báitóng whip
A Chinese traditional hidden striking weapon, this time executed in the "white copper" alloy.
Damascening
Inlaying or overlaying of gold or silver on another metal.
A katar with true inlay decoration
Late 17th century. With wootz blade and enamel chape.
Wootz talwar with pierced scabbard
With fine gold overlaid hilt, tight-grained wootz blade and elaborately pierced scabbard.
Oomersee Mawjee
Famous maker of metalwork from Bhuj, Kutch.
Gutta-percha
A natural latex made from the sap of the Palaquium gutta tree.
Talwar hilted shamshir
With a very fine Persian blade of "brilliant black" wootz.
A rare Burmese spear
A fine example with silver overlaid spearhead and silver ferrule with niello inlay.
Liùdàomù (六道木)
Chinese name for a strong and heavy wood used for staffs and arrow shafts.
Pedang lurus
Indonesian term meaning "straight sword". Often used to describe a specific silver-clad shortsword.
Phaulād (फौलाद्)
Nepali word for wootz, a type of prized crucible steel.
Ispāt (इस्पात्)
Nepali word for steel.
Bhālu kāṭh (भालु काठ)
Nepali word for Chinese Magnolia, the wood used for khukurī handles.
Paṭpaṭe (पट्पटे)
Nepali word for the Chinese magnolia wood used to make khukurī handles.
Bō-koḷa
Sinhalese term for a decorative motif that resembles the leaf of a sacred fig tree.
Sinhalese lacquered cane
Description
An antique Sinhalese walking cane, made of a light and relatively flexible rattan.
A Vietnamese Christian cross
Constructed out of dense hardwood and with fine mother-of-pearl inlays in the Vietnamese fashion.
Teišun-i giyan
Manchu for a brass or bronze mace.
A curved Deccan katar
With elaborately pierced and chiseled hilt.
A Deccan chilanum
With wootz blade, and silver overlaid hilt that was finished with fire-gilding.
A fine Sinhalese bow
Made in the Four Workshops of the King of Kandy.
Sinhalese lacquer work
Sri Lankan craftsmen used methods of applying decorative lacquer that did not involve a brush to great effect.
Unusual khanjarli
With straight blade and two opposing Yali chiseled out of the forte of the blade.
Qing military rank badge
Depicting the golden cat, representing the 6th military rank.
Large wootz talwar
The hilt inlaid with silver, once blued for added contrast.
A South Indian khanjarli
A fine, early example with silver-plated details.
Sikkim "ban" sword
With finer forge folded blade than most of its type.
Ī-vaḍuvō
Literally "arrow-makers", a Sinhalese class of craftsmen that did wood turning and lacquer work.
Patura
Sinhalese term for a decorative motif that consists of elongated triangles with two sides of equal length.
Gal-bindu (ගල් බින්දු)
A Sinhalese decorative motif in lacquer that consists of diamond shapes.
Nanban tetsu (南蠻鉃)
Literally: Southern barbarian steel.
Tachi tsuba of nanban tetsu
A rare 17th-century sword guard made of foreign steel.