Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 2nd January 2010, 05:54 PM

I am a slow thinker, so bear with me.
First of all, it has a kindjal blade and the upper fitting of the scabbard is also in the kindjal mode ( so-called antabka). The blade of the kindjal is very massive and has a pronounced diamond section, i.e. features not very popular in the Caucasus or Turkey proper but frequent all over the Balkans, from Bulgaria to Greece and up north. A lot of Circassians and Daghestanis were exiled by the Russains and settled in the Balkans by the Ottomans.
Eared pommel is self-explanatory: Ottoman Empire. However, design pattern has both Turkish ( tulip flowers) and European motives ( flowing ribbons, chevroned ribbons etc). The lanyard hole in the middle of the handle is peculiar. But kilijes had similar security feature.
Altogether I would venture to place it in the Balkans, the crossroads of Europe and Turkey proper.
Obviously, it is a unique piece, made for a one-time buyer who wanted both Caucasian and Turkish motives for his weapon.
The designs on the blade are painfully familiar, but I just cannot place them ( Alzheimer moment? delusion?)
How does the scabbard look? I guess comparing its designs with those in the recent Elgood's book might be useful.
My 3.5 cents worth.....

2nd January 2010, 05:54 PM	#10
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I am a slow thinker, so bear with me. First of all, it has a kindjal blade and the upper fitting of the scabbard is also in the kindjal mode ( so-called antabka). The blade of the kindjal is very massive and has a pronounced diamond section, i.e. features not very popular in the Caucasus or Turkey proper but frequent all over the Balkans, from Bulgaria to Greece and up north. A lot of Circassians and Daghestanis were exiled by the Russains and settled in the Balkans by the Ottomans. Eared pommel is self-explanatory: Ottoman Empire. However, design pattern has both Turkish ( tulip flowers) and European motives ( flowing ribbons, chevroned ribbons etc). The lanyard hole in the middle of the handle is peculiar. But kilijes had similar security feature. Altogether I would venture to place it in the Balkans, the crossroads of Europe and Turkey proper. Obviously, it is a unique piece, made for a one-time buyer who wanted both Caucasian and Turkish motives for his weapon. The designs on the blade are painfully familiar, but I just cannot place them ( Alzheimer moment? delusion?) How does the scabbard look? I guess comparing its designs with those in the recent Elgood's book might be useful. My 3.5 cents worth.....