Very Old Arabian Saif

M.carter · 26th May 2006, 02:34 PM

Hello,

The newest addition to my collection. I would like any information you guys have about it, approximate age? When I bought it, the pommel was broken off, and it is very damaged, but a quick superglue job fixed it. The blade measures 28 inches, which is quite short for a saif I must say, as most are over 30. The silver is very oxidised too. May I ask, will polishing the silver back to its shine, devalue the piece? I really would like to, but Im afraid it will lose some value. The hilt slabs have hairline cracks in them, and are of bone or ivory (I cant tell). The edge seems to have been sharpened with a file at some point, but its verrry sharp, razor sharp, touching it gave me a nasty cut on my fingers. The blade profile is very katana like, not a wedge as common on these swords. I must say, this is a very hefty blade, the stoutest Ive seen on a saif. This sword is very well balanced and very well made, only not very well cared for, there was some light pitting and rust in the middle of the blade, which I cleaned off easily, and many other lightly pitted spots. The pommel is very damaged. Im very excited with this sword, as its my first antique ever! Hope you guys can help me with my queries.

M.carter · 26th May 2006, 02:41 PM

More pics:

ariel · 26th May 2006, 03:37 PM

I would see no harm in brightening the silver (not polishing, of course, there are silver cleaning liquids in any supermarket). After all, removing the rust from the blade or putting some Leather Therapy on the scabbard are the necessary components of proper care for a sword.
do you think it is Syrian or Saudi ( general areas)?

IainN · 26th May 2006, 04:26 PM

That's a very interesting blade geometry, I wonder if the experts could weigh in on whether this is common with saifs? Personally I don't recall seeing one before.

Congrats on a very nice piece Mr. Carter, once the antique bug bites it doesn't seem to let go.

M.carter · 26th May 2006, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IainN

That's a very interesting blade geometry, I wonder if the experts could weigh in on whether this is common with saifs? Personally I don't recall seeing one before.

Congrats on a very nice piece Mr. Carter, once the antique bug bites it doesn't seem to let go.

I havent seen one before. All the Nejdi saifs that ive handled have either had a wedge, or a hollow ground cross section, no katana design. This one has an absolute katan design, with the shinogi, shinogi-ji, kissaki, and mune.

Oh yeah, and I think, that that bit me

I have my eyes on a couple of Ottoman sabers already...

Battara · 26th May 2006, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

I would see no harm in brightening the silver (not polishing, of course, there are silver cleaning liquids in any supermarket).

Oh Ariel, I must disagree. Polishing silver is just fine and will increase the value of any piece. However, please, please do not use the silver cleaning liquid solutions - they eat into the silver creating micro-pitting on the surface, making the features no longer crisp and clean.

M.carter · 26th May 2006, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Battara

Oh Ariel, I must disagree. Polishing silver is just fine and will increase the value of any piece. However, please, please do not use the silver cleaning liquid solutions - they eat into the silver creating micro-pitting on the surface, making the features no longer crisp and clean.

I currently have the "silvo" silver polishing lube. You say that these lubes are bad, what should i use other than that? Thanks.

kai · 26th May 2006, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M.carter

I currently have the "silvo" silver polishing lube. You say that these lubes are bad, what should i use other than that? Thanks.

Hello Mark,

I believe jeweller's rouge to be a pretty safe bet. I have a similar compound in an boiled linseed oil base which works great to touch up wood and also works nicely on silver and some other materials.

Regards,
Kai

M.carter · 26th May 2006, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

I would see no harm in brightening the silver (not polishing, of course, there are silver cleaning liquids in any supermarket). After all, removing the rust from the blade or putting some Leather Therapy on the scabbard are the necessary components of proper care for a sword.
do you think it is Syrian or Saudi ( general areas)?

Thanks Ariel, I think I shall polish it up, this sword is definetly saudi, not syrian. However, I need more help on how to polish. Thanks alot for the reply

Tim Simmons · 29th May 2006, 07:38 PM

Japan being Britain's ally in ww1 could have supplied blades to Arabia.

26th May 2006, 02:34 PM	#1
M.carter Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 176	Very Old Arabian Saif Hello, The newest addition to my collection. I would like any information you guys have about it, approximate age? When I bought it, the pommel was broken off, and it is very damaged, but a quick superglue job fixed it. The blade measures 28 inches, which is quite short for a saif I must say, as most are over 30. The silver is very oxidised too. May I ask, will polishing the silver back to its shine, devalue the piece? I really would like to, but Im afraid it will lose some value. The hilt slabs have hairline cracks in them, and are of bone or ivory (I cant tell). The edge seems to have been sharpened with a file at some point, but its verrry sharp, razor sharp, touching it gave me a nasty cut on my fingers. The blade profile is very katana like, not a wedge as common on these swords. I must say, this is a very hefty blade, the stoutest Ive seen on a saif. This sword is very well balanced and very well made, only not very well cared for, there was some light pitting and rust in the middle of the blade, which I cleaned off easily, and many other lightly pitted spots. The pommel is very damaged. Im very excited with this sword, as its my first antique ever! Hope you guys can help me with my queries. Last edited by M.carter; 26th May 2006 at 03:02 PM.

26th May 2006, 02:41 PM	#2
M.carter Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 176	More pics: Last edited by M.carter; 26th May 2006 at 03:00 PM.

26th May 2006, 03:37 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I would see no harm in brightening the silver (not polishing, of course, there are silver cleaning liquids in any supermarket). After all, removing the rust from the blade or putting some Leather Therapy on the scabbard are the necessary components of proper care for a sword. do you think it is Syrian or Saudi ( general areas)?

26th May 2006, 04:26 PM	#4
IainN Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 31	That's a very interesting blade geometry, I wonder if the experts could weigh in on whether this is common with saifs? Personally I don't recall seeing one before. Congrats on a very nice piece Mr. Carter, once the antique bug bites it doesn't seem to let go.

29th May 2006, 07:38 PM	#10
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,783	Japan being Britain's ally in ww1 could have supplied blades to Arabia.