Omani Jambiya for comments

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Hi Gene,
To answer your question to Lew re correct name. In Oman these ARE called Khanjar which is pronounced KUN-JA. Are ivory hilts common? Not in my book...don't recall seeing one before on a dagger of this type, but suggest that some wealthy person had this made. Agewise I would say around mid to late 20th century, judging by condition and the fact that the buckle shows no wear. These are still being made NEW by the way, and the odd one is beginning to appear on a certain auction site.
Maybe Ibrahiim will come in on this and be able to give you some more conclusive opinion.
Stu

Hi Stu,

Thats very interesting! "Khanjar" it is then

I wonder why someone wanted Ivory and not Silver or Horn?

As for lacking signs of age.....
It has been polished to within an inch of it's life (recently), when I first saw it, it had much more 'patina' on the silver parts. If you look at the colour of the suspension loops that haven't been recently cleaned, they are dark and oxidised from age as are the silver parts concealed from the polishing cloth. Also the belt is rather faded and uniformly age faded by general atmospheric exposure and ambient light, not scorched by direct over exposure to strong sunlight.
The leather strap also seems to have coloured the belt, presumably by seepage of tanins.
The leather parts and strap are somewhat brittle, and in places quite worn. You can see where the silver pin from the buckle has actually over time stained the hole in the strap that it was in, leaving it blackened.
I've cleaned the polish residue out of the scabbard, so hopefully the quality and construction are more visible now. The weaving was a bit 'clogged' (why do people use silvo/brasso?).
The silverwork (chasing) on many of the Jambiya/Khanjar that I see (where I cam be sure of their dating as post ww2) seems to have been made in a different way. I always think of it as 'rolled' because it looks as though a strip of silver foil has been run through a roller to emboss a pattern onto it.
The silverwork on this is much more traditional in its construction. I've only seen this on examples that are 'older'.
In fact when I got a chance to examine it, this was possibly the biggest draw for me.
Finally the Ivory itself has signs of some ageing.
I can see it being first half 20thC, but I can't see it being much into the second half. IMHO of course.
Have a look at these new pics mate:

Best
Gene