Manchu bow ?

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:14 am

I bought a massive bow on Saturday.

63-1/2" long from nock to nock on the back.

Limbs are about 2" wide, slightly tapered toward the handle (!)

Outside decoration is gone almost everywhere, but then it is more easy to see how it was built.

Any idea about the age and style ?

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:08 am

Why don't you write link instead of posting pictures? I know that bow from Webarcherie. Thank you for that last picture. Beautiful bow I must say.

Alam ed Din, Adnan · Post by **Alam ed Din, Adnan** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:04 pm

I would like to see that bow......why not use image hosting (free)?

for instance: http://www.imagevenue.com/

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:22 pm

No more quota problem. Here we go again

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:33 pm

the 2 horns at the handle. One was shorter than the other and got unglued by time.

Arrowhead · Post by **Arrowhead** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:56 am

China Qing imperial court particular period , the bow ( sturdy solid ) that the genuine battle of north is used . Has the cushion of chord dropped ? There is not the big injury ? If good fortune can repair !

jiao · Post by **jiao** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:17 am

romain
can you show more picture more side? horn, sinew , and siyah(long ear)the length of lamb and siyah,
the thickness of sinew, horn ,wood

thanks

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:08 pm

This looks like one of the bows used in the Qing military examinations to test the strength of the candidates. Sometimes they had a number between 1 and 5 written on them to indicate their power.

They would have had string bridges originally, but they were on glued and bound on, so they could be lost after many years.

Check the horn near the grip. Rather than two uneven horns there may be another join on the other side of the grip under the sinew wrapping. I have seen bows where a piece of horn was placed on the belly of the grip To join arm pieces that were not long enough. Because it was probably meant only for drawing and not shooting, two uneven horns could have been used.

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:08 pm

Thanks for your comments. I meant to post more pictures but got interrupted this morning.

We go on with the handle.

Uneven horns or a separate extra piece ? My bet is on 2 different length horns... but to be sure, I would have to remove one of the few remaining sinew thread....

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:13 pm

Siyah details

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:36 pm

In English (left then right) :

The core stops there---->

The horn stops there---->

On the previous picture, also :
Length of the siyah after core : 28.5 cm
Depth of the siyah at bow tip : 3.5 cm

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:01 pm

Siyah angle + curve

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:07 pm

siyah knee. You can see the V splice

Alam ed Din, Adnan · Post by **Alam ed Din, Adnan** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:32 pm

Thanks for posting the pictures.

I have some questions regarding the decoration of northern style Qing bows
which I would like to ask someone, who has really seen a lot of them:

1. What material/bark exactly was used to cover grip?
2. above & beneath the handle, there is often another patch of leather.
Is this generally green dyed ray skin, or where other materials being used?
(such as frog skin or shark skin)
3. On old mandshu archer paintings the siyahs appear whitish - was white rayskin applied on them, or was this the freedom of the artists?
4. Was the birch bark on the limbs applied horizontal or vertical (following
the design of the bark)?
5.How was the design brought on the birchbark? Was it just painted on the bark, or where dark dyed- cut out patches of bark glued on the 1st layer to get the charcteristic design?

Sorry for the many questions.These are some things I allways wanted to know about. I hope someone can answer them.

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 3:46 am

I think this a shooting bow rather than a strength-testing bow. From the curvature of the siyahs, I'd suggest it is relatively early: say first half of 19th century.

The strong recurve is a result of excessive drying: this bow may have been hung in the eaves of a house for many years. When in use, these bows were not recurved like that: the limbs would have been much streighter.