Pesh Kabz for comment

[Silver John]

I recently picked up this Pesh Kabz at auction. It was described as an "Ivory handled short sword, brought back from Tibet".

This kind of thing is very much out of my wheelhouse, but it doesn't look Tibetan to my eye. My guess was that it originally came from Afghanistan, but I would greatly appreciate any input from knowledgeable members here. I feel confident that it is antique, but have no idea how to date it.

It was in poor condition when I bought it, but has cleaned up quite well with fine wire wool and WD40.

As it had an ivory handle (with remnants of copper liners) I had hoped the blade would be of matching quality and made from wootz. A quick dip in coffee after I cleaned it has revealed a very pretty pattern. What would you call this type of wootz? Crystaline? High contrast? Something else?

This brings me on to my next question, regarding restoration. Whilst the red rust has been removed, there are still significant deposits of black rust. Would polishing and etching the blade increase or decrease it's potential value? It would certainly make it prettier for display, but with my kukri collection I tend not to overly clean the blades, preferring their history to be seen.

Also, one of the ferrules is missing. It looks like it was welded on with silver. Are there any people out there capable of making replacements? Though I wonder if the cost of repair might exceed the value of the piece?

Many thanks in advance.

[mariusgmioc]

Very nice aquisition!

To me, this looks like a North Indian straight pesh-kabz or "karud."

The wootz appears to be of high quality with a pattern often seen on 18th century blades (but just by judging the photos is hard to say).

[Saracen]

This is a wonderful pesh. I agree with Marius about the origin.
Please tell us more about etching with coffee, I always thought that such an effect can only be obtained with the help of acid.
Clean the remaining bolster pad, it should be made of silver.

[Kubur]

Agreed Northern India or the area


Now about

"It was described as an "Ivory handled short sword, brought back from Tibet".
but it doesn't look Tibetan to my eye".

In fact, nobody said that it was made in Tibet but brought back from.
I won't be surprised if a soldier (British) brought back this dagger from Tibet.
Maybe the dagger was used in Tibet, maybe it was just for sale in an Antique shop. I saw Persian daggers for sale in Damascus and Yemeni jambiya in Cairo...

[Silver John]

Many thanks for the comments Gentlemen. Much appreciated.



Kubur, that's a very good point! Thank you.

Regarding the use of coffee, it was a first for me and something that I learned about on this site. I believe coffee contains tannic acid. I used it because I was away camping when I collected the blade from a nearby auction house, so I had to improvise. I just filled my thermos with strong black coffee and submerged the blade for about 5-10 minutes, I was quite impressed by the results. I repeated the process in a deeper container when I got home. The Pesh Kabz is 16” overall, with an 11.5” blade.

Below are a couple of extra pics of the handle, showing a protrusion with an eye hole. Perhaps it originally had some kind or decorative tassel?

I shall try cleaning up the bolster toady and see what I have.

Thanks again Gents

[Silver John]

Apologies for the blurry pics. I think my phones camera is on the way out!

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Silver John

Regarding the use of coffee, it was a first for me and something that I learned about on this site. I believe coffee contains tannic acid...

Thank you for the detailed explanation of etching with coffee. I read somewhere (maybe here) that even Coca-Cola is used for etching in hotel conditions, but I have never come across information about the use of coffee for this. I'll check this method sometime).

PS: I probably drink too much coffee every day