Sharing my humble collection

[A.alnakkas]

Hi all,

Promised to put my collection online before, its nothing special as am just a beginner compared to many of you.

Enjoy

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Hi all,

Promised to put my collection online before, its nothing special as am just a beginner compared to many of you.

Enjoy

Thats not 'sharing' thats just teasing!

We need close-ups, blades, descriptions etc.

Seriously though, it's not the size of a collection that matters.
You're looks special to me.

[Dom]

Hi Abdullatif
don't be shy ... as me ... as mostly every body, we started by one (1) knife
and you ... you are with at least twenty items

as "Atlantia" noticed,
you will have to provide us with more specifications .. BY ITEM, with focused pictures

for instance what is teasing me,
it's your "saïf" I should like to see it in detail ...
I "love" ... Arabian saïf

what you are not mentioned, is ... your are a damned lucky guy ...
you are residing in a country not far of one of the mine market to purchase;
- all type of Arabian weapons, Riyadh it's not to far from Koweit ... (Djeddah too, has at least was having a lot of antiques )
I know it, in past .. I was residing in those countries

once more ; congratulations ou "Mabruk" as we said in Arabic

à +

Dom

[Lew]

I think you have some nice pieces there and as you said you are just starting out. You have started on a long journey and I wish you much luck with your growing collection.

Lew

[A.alnakkas]

Oh my good sir's i will put close ups on those 3 "saifs" i have. though i think the straight one catches eye?

the longer Tulwar has a finely decorated blade that at first made me think its a modern production but i think its original. The hilt has gold remnants and tiger stamps. Here are the pictures:

1- Arab sword no.1:







This is a syrian (possibly Iraqi sword) with wooden hilt made in the Turkish style. The blade, hilt/crossguard and scabbard are of local manufacture and i think its early 20th century made by the same Blacksmithes who make tourist pieces. Reasoning for this is that the inscription follow the same styling (and crudeness) but the blade is well forged and is well-sharped. Its decent and in a form seldomly seen.

2- Zanzibari Sword:







This a common "Zanzibari" sword with a wood hilt and a european trade blade. The blade i think can be found commonly also in Nimcha's but am no expert. I find the scabbard to be the most interesting in this piece.

[A.alnakkas]

3- Straight Yemeni Sword:







This i believe is one of the most interesting swords i have. Its a european blade (probably 18th? century) with a yemeni horn hilt. Found it laying around in an antique shop didnt hesitate to buy it.

4- Tulwar:

(top Tulwar)









This tulwar at first i thought its a modern production but the blade is well forged and sharped, also never seen anything like it in modern indian fakes or modern productions. The hilt shows some gold but am not sure if it shows in pictures. Any opinion on this one? is it common to have such decoration on indian blades?

[Titus Pullo]

You found an 18th century sword lying around in an antique shop and you bought it? NICE!!!!

[Atlantia]

Excellent! I love the Tulwars and the straight Yemeni especially.


Daggers now

[Dom]

Originally Posted by Titus Pullo

You found an 18th century sword lying around in an antique shop and you bought it? NICE!!!!

not surprised ...
if you may imagined what you are able to found in Koweity souks,
it's an amazing ... e.i. a Polish icon "Czestochowa Black Virgin "



no time to collect some edged weapons, it was in 90th ...
and the Iraqis, came before and took me away ...

sorry for the "off topic"

à +

Dom

[Dom]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Oh my good sir's i will put close ups on those 3 "saifs" i have. though i think the straight one catches eye?

Hi Abdullatif
thanks to have reached my wishes, yours swords are just beautiful, you are a lucky man
I'm really impress by the "tulwar" with the blade and hilt decors "in suite"

à +

Dom

[TVV]

Very nice - I think the straight Yemeni sword, and the rest of the Arab swords for that matter, deserve threads on their own.

Regards,
Teodor

[A.alnakkas]

Thanks all for your kind comments.

Dom, about kuwait souq's, you will find them very empty of antiques now. From what information i gathered, it was drained of antiques by 2004. This is due to tourists buying the real stuff here + kuwaiti's use antique swords as decoration and "fake" heirlooms. I spent a good time visiting antique shops + traditional markets and i havent seen anything except a sword here and there in antique shops but those sell fast.

There are collectors but no contact between them and so far i dont know anyone personally which slows the whole process. People pointed me to an old kuwaiti gentleman who collects but also pointed out that it might be hard to reach him so i never tried, maybe i will later. My collection will grow though as i began buying stuff online (Gav shipped my first yataghan yesterday and am happy :-) and also soon am getting 2 nimcha's off Mjamerks)

Its been a year of collecting but i have great ambitions and hope that one day am satisfied (that day wont come :P)

Will post pictures of the daggers soon as Gene requested but those 3 Pesh kabz need cleaning and etching maybe wootz is under those layers of rust. Though one of them i cleaned because it had blood, yep blood, I was surprised at first but do hope its animal blood :P

Thanks again guys!

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Titus Pullo

You found an 18th century sword lying around in an antique shop and you bought it? NICE!!!!

Well i did get it for a wooping 120$ :P though this doesnt mean that swords are cheap here, in the contrary actually. Pricing here is very random and some mediocre pieces can go as far as 3k $ and most of the "hidden" pieces are now sold. I once found a syrian sword with a "maybe" wootz blade and what seems to be recent gold inscription. The scabbard, fitting and hilt + crossguard are all recently made in the traditional way.. it sold for 3.2$ and tbh i wouldnt buy it because it looks very new. Though at somepoint once am satisfied of the Ordinary soldier type of swords i'll begin saving for the fancy stuff

[laEspadaAncha]

Nice pieces, Abdullatif... While geographically diverse, they are nonetheless somewhat cohesive in theme. I am always envious of collectors such as yourself who exhibit the self discipline to stay "on theme" so to speak. Thank you for posting them for the collective consumption and appreciation of the forum.

Regards,

Chris