Small sickle. Bukhara, 19th century
 

Small sickle (function unknown). Bukhara, 19th century
Short, curved, single-edged blade made of wootz steel, the back straight and then poly-lobed and inlaid with gold. Guard nielloed with a floral decoration continued on the silk of the handle flanked by two riveted walrus bone plates. Under the guard, metallic ring inlaid with blue glass paste. Length : 17,7 cm
Hello guys. Perhaps someone knows what this sickle could be used for?

I don't know what it is for ... but i know it is very, very nice :cool:.

Agree, very nice :)

Nice little knife and probably meant for a specific use. In SE Asia, nicely decorated knives of this size were often used for chopping betel nuts. Did folks in Buchara chew betel? Probably not, I'm guessing.

Hello, Ian.

As far as I know, betel was not chewed in Bukhara...

Thanks Mahratt. I would have been surprised if they did. :)

It was used to cut something small and of consistent size judging from the semi-circular stain in the mid-section of the blade's edge.

Could be a sugar knife. Tea sugar and bling.

Wouldn't sugar be cut on a flat surface, hence the concave edge be counterproductive?

Beautiful knife Mahratt! Something ceremonial? For cutting the umbilical cord? Or for harvesting something special? Only for thought-provoking impulses!

Regards,
Detlef

Hello, Detlef

Great versions. I don't know what the function of this knife is. I myself am very interested. That's why I turned to the collective mind of the forum ;)

I dont know why, but i am thinking of cutting flowers. The forward curved blade, the size of it...
But only a intuition here... no proof or anything

Circumcision?
Regards
Richard

Seems like a rich man's tool. It is maybe analogous to a gentleman's silver budding knife, if not for the same purpose. Maybe for some sort of pruning? Was there a type of genteel plant husbandry there or vineyards? To me it does not appear designed for rigorous use.

:eek:

Richard, when I was going through Medical School we had this contraption called the "Little Trimmer." :eek: :eek: :eek:

I thought about circumcision tool but they tend to be (at least the Jewish ones) a little more resembling a razor and in other tradition they are just sharp knives . I am intrigued, in any case, by the function of the rounded tip with a point wouldn't be, strictly speaking , associated to that purpose. It seems to be more akin to indeed something like a betel nut knife, but they don't have betel nut there.

The tip has , I believe, the function to be inserted in some hard spot or to pull on something has as to remove back or something like that. Like a small billhook

May i ask you a question Dmitry. You are visibly sure that this knife is from Bukhara; did it come to you with no further info ?

Has already some of you guys commented on the handle being longer than the blade ? Interesting ... and noteworthy !

Fernando, unfortunately I could not buy this knife. Too expensive for me.
But since now I am seriously and deeply studying the armss and armor of the khanates of Central Asia, I am 200% sure that this small sickle is from Central Asia and, to be completely precise, it is undoubtedly from Bukhara (the decor of the sickle just "screams" about it)

I get it.

Opium knife, for scoring the Poppy head to collect the sap? Or to chop up the raw Opium.

a very good possibility, having looked around on the internet there are some similar ones (and many different ones too), so it may very well be, the shape definitely looks like it may have been devised to score something is some way which would be coherent with a circular motion.


The British museum has one (very much cruder though) which shows similarities


One thought though....this below is a very crude and utilitarian blade the OP is a very much fancier blade, now the average opium farmer doesn't strike me as though they could afford (or want, it is a messy business) a blade that fancy!:confused:

I was going to say the same; no common farmer would go scoring poppy heads with such a high end piece.

Yes, and it's way too long and heavy for such a job!

Regards,
Kai

Hello Fernando,

IMHO, this makes sense for such a really small knife, especially if used for any heavy cutting.

It certainly looks like a strong grip was intended here!

Regards,
Kai

And if not circumsizing it can trim cigars!
Regards
Richard

It is something for a rich man doing a job not requiring noticeable physical effort.
Sharpening quill pens?

Wouldn't those be smaller tools ?

the thing is that this hawkbill knife may not have had a special function at all.

Most probably its quality of execution far out-performs function.

I don't think this had any ceremonial purpose and although grand, this was a simple utilitarian knife and , as suggested from its hawkbill shape, supposedly used in agricultural ( it is obviously meant to pry and or pull while cutting) context.

Here are 2 images of quill sharpening. The size of the sharpeners is quite consistent with the example posted here: full size handles and small blades.

I could not find images of Oriental quill sharpening. But I kind of agree with Milandro: while generally knives were created with a specific function in mind but in real life could have been used for many functions.

This is absolutely true. But knives/daggers varied in their sophistication and quality of execution depending on the status of their owner.
A garden variety Misericorde dagger was just kind of narrow stabbing blade with a minimalistic handle. But a rich man could have ordered a " work of art".

Agree ... and disagree. Maybe instead of referring to the size i should have mentioned shape. To say that the blade curvature of Dmitry's example excludes the possibility of being a multiuse device and basically points to a specific purpose; pruning or the like.
... And sorry Dmitry for polluting your thread :o.


.

Hello Ariel,

For sharpening quills one would like an as thin blade as possible. The blade shown by Dmitry looks quite substantial.

For ease of sharpening the blade, a sheepsfoot blade would be perfect or at least a straight edge. This concave edge would need way more effort to keep the blade razor sharp!

The heavy hilt will also not help fine cutting tasks.

As already mentioned, it's certainly correct though that in such status pieces form does not always strictly follow function (if any).

Regards,
Kai

Hello, fernando

No apologies. I am very interested in reading various interesting versions. Thank you and the rest of the contributors to this thread.

By the way, I asked the same question on the Russian forum. One of the participants in the topic said that it would be very convenient to peel a pomegranate fruit with such a knife.

I know a better system; my wife pills them for me with bare hands ... and i devour the seeds ;).

cheers,;)

This is a great option! ;) Undoubtedly better than the proposed))

I've seen pomegranates cut that way and use that method myself. the knife I use and have seen others use is a pruning knife. Which leads me back to my comment #13, a rich man's garden knife. the right shape but too highly decorated and costly for any regular work.

I guess it could be a table knife just for pomegranates, but it still seems expensive for that with wootz, walrus, and gold inlay. A status piece of some sort.

I lean towards this as well, the short, concave side edge lends itself to this function. I can imagine a rich man strolling through his garden and picking a fruit or flower from a tree with this.