Benaki Museum, Athens

[digenis]

I think the Elgood book shortchanges Greek silversmith work to a great extent. There is a great silversmith tradition in the NW part of the country in Janinna, Epirus. I was there this past summer and met some of the collectors and silversmiths Elgood allegedly spoke to when he was researching the book of the Arms of Greece. They seemed a little unhappy with the way the importance of their region in the assembly of arms had been minimized. The City of Janinna was the defacto capital of Greece in the 18th and early 19th century. I think there can be a serious debate as to what work is "Greek" and what is "Albanian" considering the cultures in that part of the world were so intermixed. I think Elgood's main premise is that the blades were primarily imported into the Ottoman Empire and then local artisans would assemble the weapon. The exception to this rule being Bosnia because of the existence iron ore. I find it peculiar that a local Greek industry would not have emerged since the Greeks had the right to bear arms (Armatoloi), were the most rebellious subjects (Klephts), and because of their sea faring skills probably the wealthiest among Ottoman subjects at the time of the Greek war of independence.