A Very Humble "Shashka"
 

I acquired this shashka a short while after acquiring that military example I posted. This post would serve as a companion to my "A Very Humble Kindjal" thread but the kindjal posted in that thread is Turkish, not Georgian/Caucasian. With that being said the shashka in the title is in quotes because I hesitate to give this sword that moniker. While it is a guardless sabre, the blade seems to be of proper form (with two tiny nicks in the edge as shown), and the length seems about right for a shashka (overall 34.5in/blade 28in), it lacks a feature that I always associate with shashkas: the cleft/wedge cutout pommel. While not present on every example it is a very common feature and it is strange to find one lacking such a common element. This piece is very simple so it is possible that the maker just needed a simple sword and decided to forgo tradition. I am probably overthinking things and this is more than likely just a Duck Test situation. In any case all opinions and comments are welcome. These are the seller's photos, I really need to get a good photo setup.

Quite odd. That blade looks somehow Indian to me, albeit it doesn't have the characteristic ricasso.

Is the grip pinned or just glued in place?


Other cultures made pseudo-shashkas/guardless sabres, my Bedu version for one. Might be interesting to give a section a quick etch to see if there is any patterning.


I've added another guardless sabre of unknown origin, bit more curved, not very shashka-like, well-made but round grip, peened butt over a disk keeper.

There is a pin, but strangely it doesn't go all the way through the grip. The blade is also recessed into the hilt about 3/4 of an inch to an inch.