Yemeni Sword for comment
 

Just received this nice Yemeni sword. The hilt is horn (not rhino) and is decorated with silver, and silver buttons. The double edged good quality blade is of "fighting" flex (not dancing item), very sharp, and has stars and moons on both sides. The single fuller is well forged and not "scratched" on, as on some cheaper blades.

Thats some excellent work you did on it, Stu :-)

Nice example which I recall from a couple of years ago. These swords from Yemen seem to, in my opinion, be ersatz weapons which were refurbished for tribal use in these regions during the considerable strife and conflicts there since after WWI. I am not nearly well versed enough in Arabian history to describe these complex events, but do know that many types of these hilts on varying blades out of Red Sea trade regions exist. The interpretation of the 'karabela' style hilt was much favored in these Arabian regions and I cannot recall the term which Ibrahiim noted they were called by.

The blade on this one appears to be of the form often occurring in regions of the Sudan in the last quarter of the 19th c. possibly slightly earlier, and are often attributed to the Solingen maker Clauberg, though certainly not necessarily all of them are. The same type blades have been seen on the Omani 'kattara' of the form now revealed to be ceremonial swords or merchants dress swords of Muscat.

These centrally fullered blades seem to have interpretations of certain European markings such as the cross and orb, as well as these crescent moon and star grouping. This particular moon and stars mark was used by the Schnitzler & Kirshbaum makers of Solingen in variation on trade cutlass blades from about mid 19th century well into probably late 19th. Just as many of the cross and orb interpretations reflect variation by native artisans the configuration of these moon and stars does as well.

Some of the so called 'Zanzibar nimchas' have blades with similar marks,and I would point out that these type swords are among those which seem to have been brought to Yemen during these troublesome events and insurgencies. The cutlass blade types of these karabela hilt examples have the same profile and these kinds of marks seen on this one.

Good example of a tribal fighting sword which may have seen long use well into the 20th century, and I think excellent representation of just how long the sword saw, and very much continues to see use in many ethnographic regions.

Hi Jim,
Nice to see you are OK and still have all four wheels on the ground with all the terrible storms the US is having. :)
Once again a concise reply to the subject, and the possible attribution of the marks on the blade. After close inspection, I do notice that there is a very faint sign that BOTH sides of the blade had 3 moons and stars. The top two on one side have almost disappeared thru wear, but are definitely there....just!
I agree also the with the continuing unrest over the ages, both internationally, and tribally, these blades have often been recycled and are likely much older than the hilt. I would probably date this sword as being early to mid 20th century, but that the blade is likely quite a bit older than that. Dating these things is only a guess really, as most could have been put together at any time they were needed for combat. The hilt on this one I believe is of better quality than most, as it is nicely decorated with silver, and has been made from horn of some sort, though not rhino. Hilts of these swords could be made from anything suitable to hand, such as aluminium. I have an aluminium hilted sword in my collection, and others with aluminium used as decoration instead of silver.
Regards Stu

Thank you Stu, actually we are in Dallas and the tornados several days ago just missed us, those in Oklahoma are actually where we were headed. We have warnings again for tomorrow, but we will roll out early and head westward....out of tornado alley! My brother and family in Oklahoma are all OK, but too close!

I agree these swords seem to among many which for years were refurbished and many that came out of Zanzibar to supply the many tribal factions in ongoing strife and civil war in Yemen after WWI. It seems the 'Zanzibar' nimchas were said to have come from there and to supply Yemen (I know one I have was of about 40 in from an arsenal there according to source). In the work done by Louis-Pierre years ago he shows these type markings on the blade of some of these. There would seem little doubt that the marks as seen here are probably interpretations of the Schnitzler-Kirschbaum type groupings seen on the cutlass type trade blades.

Thanks for keeping these interesting examples coming!!!! :)

Keep your head down Jim. We have just seen on TV damage to More, Oklahoma!
Suggest you head elsewhere!
Anyway back to the subject in hand. I agree these swords are interesting items, even though it is hard to date them or be certain of origins. The various materials used and styles created show that any useful material was used to create what is probably best called a backyard piece.
Keep safe.
Stu

Salaams Jim ~ I recall seeing this one before as you note... and then it had more of the description Karabela. I used to think they resembled Falcon Heads and I had stuck that description on them "willy nilly" rather than as an historical fact. I seem to agree that the moon and stars are local marks. I think the blade is a good one perhaps from Hadramaut? This is one of the blades that inspired me to suggest a link further up the Red Sea even as a spill over from the Mamlukes or Constantinople style. There are very clear links to the hilt type in Turkish "karabela" swords are there not? This was well fielded by Ariel not so long ago.

The blade looks fairly stiff and not of the Omani dancing type...a subject I am still piecing together following months of research which pretty well got me nowhere in the Muscat arena.... except to say that I now have firm date evidence and reason for the whole Omani dancing sword concept... but thats for another thread later... :)

This sword hilt style in fact appears in Buttin... under a Zanzibari style. See http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=nimcha Buttin # 26 Plate XXX 1007 and 1008.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Nice addition Stu :) Thanks for sharing. Love to learn from the conversation of the minds here :)

Thanks Nat, hope all is well with you.

Salaams... I forgot to ask what the two upholstery pins were in the pommel? :shrug:
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Holding the cap in place until the proper pins arrive from the silversmith.

In defence of the lowly upholstery stud.
 

Salaams all ~ It is a little known fact that upholstery studs(from the industrial revolution) were often used to adorn furniture particularly Arabian Chests and occasionally similar shaped studs appear on Tribal Jewellery and even adornment for sword hilts !...since they were used in vast numbers as ships ballast Europe- India~ From the viewpoint of talismanic effect the brass ones were favoured here because people believed that brass (like gold) reflected evil whereas a lot of plain iron or tin studs were used in addition in India. :shrug:

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.