Some Jambiyas

[Gavin Nugent]

I have been doing a lot of sympathy buying of late since I was out bid on an incorrectly catalogued 16th century Venetian War hammer .

These are a couple of the half a dozen or so weapons I bought of late, Dha, Dao, clubs, Tibetan sword, some may find there way to the swap forum as I bought them in groups but these two look like they will display well and I'd like to learn more by having them in my hands, so with the minister for war and finance's permission they will stay around the office and be displayed.

I have only ever held a couple of old Jambiyas that were war trophies from Australian WW1 vets, very nice old ivory handled pieces they were, since then I have always been looking here and looking there with no great interest, then as nature would have it I bought these two as the opportunity arose.
Apart from reading what there is within these pages about Jambiya and thanks Lew for posting what you have over time, I would love to know more about these two for learning sake and see what they are and how old they may be. The handles are horn and that is about all I can say for now as due to import restrictions here for small double edged weapons it will be at least 6 weeks before I see them.


Gav

[Lew]

Gav

Both jambiyas are Omani 1940-60 I would say. They could be older but it's hard to say from the pics.

[Gavin Nugent]

Thanks Lou, I hope you are happy with your Nimcha!

As you have had a fair bit of imput on these over the years, are there any particular links or readings that you can offer up on learning further about the subject with regards to dating and origins other than Oriental arms? Would you per chance have specific comparisons in your collection? The decorative nature of these items is always interesting to me.

Gav

[Lew]

Originally Posted by freebooter

Thanks Lou, I hope you are happy with your Nimcha!

As you have had a fair bit of imput on these over the years, are there any particular links or readings that you can offer up on learning further about the subject with regards to dating and origins other than Oriental arms? Would you per chance have specific comparisons in your collection? The decorative nature of these items is always interesting to me.

Gav

Hi Gav

Yes the nimcha arrived a few days ago thanks As far as these Omani jambiyas are concerned I do not have any examples in my collection but I remember reading that they were originally designed by a princess or wife of one of the kings of Oman many years ago?

The story goes that the Persian queen of Oman, the loyal loving Persian wife of Al Bu Said Sayydi Ibn Sultan who reigned Oman in 1806-1856, thought that the classical Omani Khanjar, with the rather simple I shaped handles was boring, and designed a new and more flashy khanjar dagger for her husband's birthday. The new style rapidly became very popular and its use was spread all over the Arabian peninsula.


Lew

[kahnjar1]

F Y I these 2 are from the United Arab Emirates and not Oman. Could be late 19th century but more likely early to mid 20th century. They are not anything out of the ordinary, and follow the general pattern for Khanjars from that area.
The Al bu Said Khanjar to which Lew refers is an entirely different shape, and although probably fairly hard to get in the gold presentation model, is relatively common in the standard silver. I have attached a couple of pics reproduced from a book showing the Al bu Said type. You will note that quite a number of these appear in the pic of the Omani Khanjars.
Regards Stuart

[Lew]

Stuart

I hate to split hairs with you but Before 1971, the UAE were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a nineteenth-century truce between Britain and several Arab Sheikhs. Since the UAE is just to the north of Oman these could be a northern variation of an Omani khanjar? The lines are a bit blurred here I think when speaking of the two styles. Below are several styles of Omani khanjar/jambiya as you can there are a few variations. The last photo is of T.E. Lawerence and he is wearing what looks an Omani style Jambiya of an older style so maybe styles change over time and region? At the bottom is another photo of Lawrence taken in Jidda or Jedda Saudi Arabia wearing another Omani Jamiya/khanjar so I guess that style did get around quite a bit back then.

Lew

[Gavin Nugent]

Thanks to everyone for their input on these lovely knives, there is much diversity and information to digest.

They have arrived and I am quite taken with them. I'll get to posting further images in a few days when time is easier to find.

I have a few questions though.

There are different materials used in the hilts of these, plastic, Rhino horn, timber, silver, ivory etc but I have also heard of giraffe hoof being used too.
As these two I have here are horn hilted jambiyas, is the any clear way of identifying the horn? Could they be giraffe hoof? Can anyone point to a good reference of identifying any hoof rather than horn?

Also the other question I have is one that opinions may vary, to clean off the tarnish or leave it? I am sure these will glow if it is removed but does this detract from their presence? Me personally, I would love to clean the silver and show off more of their beauty.

Gav

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by freebooter

Thanks to everyone for their input on these lovely knives, there is much diversity and information to digest.

They have arrived and I am quite taken with them. I'll get to posting further images in a few days when time is easier to find.

I have a few questions though.

There are different materials used in the hilts of these, plastic, Rhino horn, timber, silver, ivory etc but I have also heard of giraffe hoof being used too.
As these two I have here are horn hilted jambiyas, is the any clear way of identifying the horn? Could they be giraffe hoof? Can anyone point to a good reference of identifying any hoof rather than horn?

Also the other question I have is one that opinions may vary, to clean off the tarnish or leave it? I am sure these will glow if it is removed but does this detract from their presence? Me personally, I would love to clean the silver and show off more of their beauty.

Gav

If you are going to keep them yourself then by all means clean them, otherwise leave as is

[Gavin Nugent]

Thanks Stu, any other views on this matter or to clean or not to clean?

On the manner of hoof/horn identification, any idea to the notion I have presented?

Gav

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by freebooter

Thanks to everyone for their input on these lovely knives, there is much diversity and information to digest.

They have arrived and I am quite taken with them. I'll get to posting further images in a few days when time is easier to find.

I have a few questions though.

There are different materials used in the hilts of these, plastic, Rhino horn, timber, silver, ivory etc but I have also heard of giraffe hoof being used too.
As these two I have here are horn hilted jambiyas, is the any clear way of identifying the horn? Could they be giraffe hoof? Can anyone point to a good reference of identifying any hoof rather than horn?

Also the other question I have is one that opinions may vary, to clean off the tarnish or leave it? I am sure these will glow if it is removed but does this detract from their presence? Me personally, I would love to clean the silver and show off more of their beauty.

Gav

Salaams freebooter~ I was about to write an article on Patina when I saw your post in library and decided to place it here with perhaps a copy on my "The Omani Khanjar" thread as well.. Naturally collectors admire and seek that syndrome we call patina but in the living breathing form i.e. Local Arab users of what we call ethnographic arms here in Arabia the view is different. These khanjars are for wearing and against a pure white dishdash, Omani national dress, the weapons must be spotlessly clean... Otherwise the silver oxide makes an awful mess as it rubs off onto the white dishdash robes ! Its as simple as that.
Quite often khanjars come in for cleaning... removal of the patina... but rest assured patina on silver returns really fast. It is continually oxidising ... In the store we have new items under glass which oxidise quite slowly and other khanjars... 50 or so hanging on the wall... that are full of patina ... A local client will often ask that a khanjar is cleaned before he takes it... It takes an hour... We use the same items as our silver workshops ... water and a brass bristled brush which only takes off the silver oxide and gives a burnished bright clean silver look... highly polished the khanjar is then dried in the sun, buffed with a clean cloth and ready for collection.
Of course this is opposite to what many collectors want... but as I say... patina on silver returns very quickly and in a few months it is complete ... at which point the collector may wish to highlight certain aspects of the silver in a partial polish up thus keeping the contrasting older patina partly intact.

Technically we don't actually remove patina but only by definition remove the "silver oxide" The old, rounded, soft effect to silver items is therefor enhanced but I hope my explanation describes the two views of the same subject.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Steve]

Gav,
I'm sure members of this forum are more knowledgeable on this than I am. However the hoof handles I have seen have a more glutenous look and feel than the horn. Rhino, of course, has that strong defining fibrous structure.
If you have Tirri's book on African Weapons check figs 2-12 and 2-14. Fig 2-14 gives an actual size, side by side, comparison of rhino horn and giraffe hoof.
Tirri states the difference can be seen in colour and composition. The giraffe horn is a yellow/brown colour. Colour is difficult with rhino horn as I have seen variations from white/pale green, to yellow, to the usual brown and almost black. The two ends of the spectrum are quite rare and highly prized in the arabian area.
Steve