Miniature or Child Shibriya

[ALEX]

Here's a nice little Shibriya. It is quite small but properly made with quality blade, proper carrying loop, etc. It has genuine wear and shows some age. Could it be made for a child, or just a souvenir or miniature? I think these dagger were given to children when they reach adulthood and ready to handle them. This one is so small as for a baby? I know miniature arms were produced just as real, but the blade and general wear on this one makes me think it was meant to be worn/used. Any other comments, suggestions?

[Jens Nordlunde]

I cant say that I know very much about these weapons - close to nothing, if I have to be correct.
You give no measure, but it seems to be very small - could it have been made for a woman, or maybe for a smal boy.
Besides for the women regiments, it is known that some women did carry daggers and katars.

[motan]

Hi Alex,
Anything I say is a speculation because I have not seen anything similar before. Still I think that it is a nice and genuine find. Some aspects, like the twisted and wrapped silver wire, the general shape of the scabbard, and the little knob in the middle of the hilt are typical of shibriyas of the best known Jordanian type. Others, like the dog-leg blade and especially the shape of the pommel do not belong to standard shibiya style. Some technical details, like using one metal sheet on both sides are also different from shibriyas (seperate sheet is usually used for the back). So where is it from? The shape of the blade points to an early date - before WWI, but I am not sure in this case (see discussion in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=Motan; http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=Mota). The shape of the hilt and especially the pommel are reminicent of Iraqi (Bagdad) daggers. Just by gut feeling, I would place this dagger somewhere in Northern Arabia, where daggers called shibriya are much more diverse and include many blade and pommel shapes similar to this one.
As for the miniature size, this is a mistery that was discussed before, among others in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=size+matter The funny thing is that miniatures appear in almost every style and age. I own a pre 1900 Georgian kindjal where the space for the palm is just under 4cm!! while the blade is sharp and 20cm long. Would like to hear others abouthis subject though.

[ALEX]

Thank you Jens and Motan for your thoughts
Very interesting observations. I also do not recall seeing similar Shibriya, and also agree with Motan that this one appears to be genuine and real one, just smaller than usual. Some miniature arms were done quite well, but for display or novelty purposes and not to be used, and this becomes quite apparent when one sees or handles them. Some can also be seen here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=miniature
The subject Shibriya is not exactly in this category and somewhere toward a real weapon, small utility, child knife, etc. Hopefully others will have more info or references to this theory.

[kronckew]

sailors also carried smaller sharp knives, unlike children's knives which were usually unsharpened. easier to use/carry in the restricted spaces on board ship.

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by kronckew

sailors also carried smaller sharp knives, unlike children's knives which were usually unsharpened. easier to use/carry in the restricted spaces on board ship.

Good point. It is small(er) but functional. Here it is next to a regular size shibriya.