latest 2020 yataghan
 

Hello dear members,

I got this crude heavy yataghan.

The delicate pattern on the blade contrasts with the heavy raw piece.

I guess it's turkish ribbon so does it come from Turkey ?

The hilt is interesting too:
nice horn with silver nails,
one ear was broken and has been changed/repaired

Old replacement ? Maybe bakelite

sadly no scabbard( like often ... )

What do you think about age, exact origin ?

Kind regards

blade and hilt...

Though it looks like twist core it does also remind me of jelly roll damascus as well.

Yes, Turkish ribbon for sure.

The blade appears to have seen some real use.

The hilt seems to be horn. You should examine it with a 5-10 magnifying glass and maybe will discover it is rhino horn. From what I see in the photos I believe it is quite likely.

19th century Turkey would be my guess. :shrug:

Nice piece!

Not all that crude, just built for use. ribbon core and rhino grip is hardly low-class. Repair to the ear look very well done.

A very nice blade, but actually I don't see rhino horn.
The structure of the material seems to be wrong.

Regards

Hello,
Thank you all for your comments,
there is translusence in the hilts grips and it looks between wood-horn so maybe rhino...
I will try to make some good close up of the grip and the blade and post it

Some more pics of the blade

the hilt, with/without torch

19th century ?
I thought maybe too a north african/algerian model ( hilt shape and materials)...

Kind regards

The repaired part of the hilt could be wood.
The rest is horn, but probably no rhino horn.
In this thread you can see the structure of rhino horn very well, especially in post 18:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6162

I think the yataghan is turkish and not from North Africa.

Regards

Hello GonzoAdler,

I know rhino structure but we don't see the spaghetti structure anytime,
sometimes it's really homogenous and translucent ( have a jambiya like that )
sometimes it can be dark and really fibrous like this one sold by a serious house,
I think you would say it's just wood ;) ...
I can do the sticky test...
Maybe the rhino hilt opinion change depending on if you have it in you hands or not

Ps: the repaired part is on the other side: without nails,looks like wax-bakelite,
and transluscent too,
can't be wood at all

Concerning the piece from Oriental Arms: I would not say it's just wood and these small dots, resulting from cutted tubes, are of course not the only indicator but a very good one. Normally you can find these dots somewhere on the surface if it is rhino horn.
Because of the transluscence: I had and have Khanjars and Nimchas with rhino hilts but I owned also a Khanjar with a translucent horn hilt which was definitely no rhino. It looked different from your Yatagan but transluscence is no save indicator for this material (or for bakelite/plastic).
Sometimes it is hard to judge the material with pictures, that's right.
Rhino or not, you have an undecorated but interesting and good Yataghan.

Regards

I cannot say whether the hilt is rhino or not based on the pictures, but I also do not think that this is so important. Rhino horn might be the more exotic material, but it comes with its own set of legal problems concerning acquisition, ownership and future transfer. In a way, bovine or ram horn might be better to own, as it makes life much simpler.

To me the attraction of a piece is not so much in the material used, but more in the craftsmanship, and your yataghan from Asia Minor is really well made, with a gorgeous blade and a nice, intact hilt. The blade in particular is so nice that I personally would be happy to have it even without any hilt at all. Happy Holidays!

Teodor

Hello,
Thank you for your comments,

an HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!!
WISH THE BEST FOR 2021 AND THAT THIS NEW YEAR WILL BE DAMNED BETTER THAN 2020 !!