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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
Salaams TVV...Your curved sword looks like a "Luckhouse and Gunter" imported German blade for the Ethiopian market configured typically with two full length florally decorated fullers and throat stamps etc. Could well have simply slipped onto the bulk blades market and re hilted for the souks; Saudia or Yemen.
With an Ethiopian hilt it would be superb...and correct.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.
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Ibrahim,
I am assuming the blade made its way to Yemen because of its former hilt, which was likely rhino and was reused for a jambiya: there have been other examples on the forum of rehilted Ethiopian blades. However, there is one thing that I find somewhat puzzling: the blade was originally straight, and was reforged into a curved one. Logically, it could have been rehilted with its new hilt for the souvenir trade just as it was, so why go through the extra effort of hammering it into a curved one? I can imagine that labor is cheap, but it seems like a totally unnecessary step.
Anyway, for more ethipoian swords rehilted in Yemen, I found this thread. The pictures are now sadly gone, but the hilts were of a different kind, not of the ring hilt variety:
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001511.html
The thread about the Riyadh bazaars, which I refernced earlier, suggested that the swords in the bazaar were not entirely intended for tourists, but that there was still a local demand for ceremonial and status purposes. While a lot of the production is undoubtedly meant for tourists, we should probably be careful before we quickly dismiss every sword with a modern (1950+) rehilt as a souvenir.
Regards,
Teodor