"Eastern Sword" Szabla for comments

Philip · 21st February 2021, 05:33 AM

Sorry to say, and I wouldn't mind if someone else out there disagrees, but my gut tells me that this is a recently-assembled composite of new and old parts.

The proportions of the guard, and its filework, don't sit well with me and I have seen and handled many in the depots of Polish museums, not to mention having collected this type of saber for some decades. Most Polish hilts are of iron (although scabbard fittings were frequently of brass). The rivet holding the rearward langet to the grip looks rather "fresh" . Leather, though wrinkled in areas, doesn't seem to show the signs of extensive wear and age-related deterioration one would expect on something like this.

The type of blade, with its prominent yelman and multiple narrow fullers, is of the same style as seen on many Indian talwars of the 18th and 19th cent. I know of a restorer and maker of replicas, specializing in Eastern European weapons and armor, who in fact routinely used such Indian blades to build reproductions of szablas and karabelas on hilts that he skillfully made, although to his credit he usually didn't clean them to the degree seen here.

21st February 2021, 05:33 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Sorry to say, and I wouldn't mind if someone else out there disagrees, but my gut tells me that this is a recently-assembled composite of new and old parts. The proportions of the guard, and its filework, don't sit well with me and I have seen and handled many in the depots of Polish museums, not to mention having collected this type of saber for some decades. Most Polish hilts are of iron (although scabbard fittings were frequently of brass). The rivet holding the rearward langet to the grip looks rather "fresh" . Leather, though wrinkled in areas, doesn't seem to show the signs of extensive wear and age-related deterioration one would expect on something like this. The type of blade, with its prominent yelman and multiple narrow fullers, is of the same style as seen on many Indian talwars of the 18th and 19th cent. I know of a restorer and maker of replicas, specializing in Eastern European weapons and armor, who in fact routinely used such Indian blades to build reproductions of szablas and karabelas on hilts that he skillfully made, although to his credit he usually didn't clean them to the degree seen here.