Ethiopian scabbard: to fake or not to fake

roanoa · 24th July 2007, 08:26 AM

Hi guys. I should have posted this one in the ETHIOPIAN ANYONE? thread, but the issue goes of course well beyond the Etrhiopian borders.... Many of the Ethiopian swords I have found/seen/collected do not have a scabbard. Many of the ones that do have a scabbard have one in pretty bad shape. However, I REALLY like my swords to have a scabbard. There is something magical about unsheathing a sword; at least for me. Finding a replacement scabbard is virtually impossible, though a couple have surfaced on eBay in the last while. The problem is then whether it would take any of my blades. Most likely not due to the enormous variety of Ethiopian blades. So I have studied my Ethiopian scabbards and figured out how they were made, stitched and decorated, and proceeded to make a couple of "fakes". Am I justified in doing so? I KNOW it's a fake and I will tell with "pride" that it is a fake. It's just that a sword looks so much better with its scabbard.... Anyways, let's get back to the making of the scabbard. Ethiopian scabbards were made out of raw untreated hide that dried up in a very hard and stiff sheath. This was covered with a very thin lamb or kid leather that was usually dyed red and then extensively tooled. I had no luck in finding raw hide. So I had to use some stiff shoe-making leather. This was wetted and shaped around a mock blade made out of thin plywood. Once the leather had dried out, I unstitched it so I could remove the wooden blade. Stitch again. Lightly wet and "heat treat" and you end up with a reasonably stiff inner scabbard that will hold its shape. Then I covered it with lamb skin and tool it thougout. Oh yes, I had to make my own tools that closely resemble the original ones. The results are impressive, at least in my eyes. Here are the pictures of my latest creation. Very time consuming but very rewarding. So my question to you is: is it really worth it? Does it add any value to the sword, even if only from an esthetical point of view? Am I to be condemned as a heritic?

24th July 2007, 08:26 AM	#1
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 234	Ethiopian scabbard: to fake or not to fake Hi guys. I should have posted this one in the ETHIOPIAN ANYONE? thread, but the issue goes of course well beyond the Etrhiopian borders.... Many of the Ethiopian swords I have found/seen/collected do not have a scabbard. Many of the ones that do have a scabbard have one in pretty bad shape. However, I REALLY like my swords to have a scabbard. There is something magical about unsheathing a sword; at least for me. Finding a replacement scabbard is virtually impossible, though a couple have surfaced on eBay in the last while. The problem is then whether it would take any of my blades. Most likely not due to the enormous variety of Ethiopian blades. So I have studied my Ethiopian scabbards and figured out how they were made, stitched and decorated, and proceeded to make a couple of "fakes". Am I justified in doing so? I KNOW it's a fake and I will tell with "pride" that it is a fake. It's just that a sword looks so much better with its scabbard.... Anyways, let's get back to the making of the scabbard. Ethiopian scabbards were made out of raw untreated hide that dried up in a very hard and stiff sheath. This was covered with a very thin lamb or kid leather that was usually dyed red and then extensively tooled. I had no luck in finding raw hide. So I had to use some stiff shoe-making leather. This was wetted and shaped around a mock blade made out of thin plywood. Once the leather had dried out, I unstitched it so I could remove the wooden blade. Stitch again. Lightly wet and "heat treat" and you end up with a reasonably stiff inner scabbard that will hold its shape. Then I covered it with lamb skin and tool it thougout. Oh yes, I had to make my own tools that closely resemble the original ones. The results are impressive, at least in my eyes. Here are the pictures of my latest creation. Very time consuming but very rewarding. So my question to you is: is it really worth it? Does it add any value to the sword, even if only from an esthetical point of view? Am I to be condemned as a heritic? Attached Images