Two gems

[Yannis]

Two beautiful knifes from Ebay for anyone who lost them. I am not in my best financial days so I was just looking. Artzi proved once again that he has the eye and the will. The seller describes the second one as Persian but in my huble opinion it is Ottoman.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6534860009

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6534860070

[derek]

Hi Yannis,

I was a spectator for these as well. Both are beauties. What made the first one so much more "attractive" than the second?

-d

[Rick]

Originally Posted by derek

Hi Yannis,

I was a spectator for these as well. Both are beauties. What made the first one so much more "attractive" than the second?

-d

Wootz vs undetermined steel blade ?
I wonder if the handle on the first example is really Hippo ivory and how can one tell ?

[nechesh]

Originally Posted by derek

Hi Yannis,

I was a spectator for these as well. Both are beauties. What made the first one so much more "attractive" than the second?

-d

Wootz maybe?

[nechesh]

Once again, Rick, you have shown that great minds think alike....and apparently simultaneously.

[Rick]

Of course Nechesh !

I went a Google-ing for Hippo tusk .
It must have been one hell of a large tusk to get straight section to make a hilt .

[spiral]

Despite the ebay blurb, that is 100% walrus, not hippo.

Only walrus & some whale has that marbeled interior.

Hippo has dentine & enamal but no marbeling.

Spiral

[Battara]

On the money Spiral! Walrus. A favorite of Ottoman courts, which both of these are. I believe that the second one (straight blade) is for court use by foreigners. Unfortunately, both out of my league (though on my wish list ).

[Rick]

What I figured .
Hippo indeed .

[Oriental-Arms]

Three comments

1) Both items are of fine quality and highly desirable. We could not afford both and had to decide. Should we bid on the other one it would have realized very high price as well.

2) Why this one: As already mentioned, primarily the high quality wootz. It is Persian wootz with dark pattern and high contrast. Not very common on Ottoman daggers. The curved blade on this type of daggers is not so common as the straight one and also the very high quality silver work on the scabbard was a factor. We are almost sure that the other dagger also have a wootz blade but may be of a lesser quality.

3) Hippo tusk: Has already mentioned both handles here are walrus ivory with the very characteristic marble like inner core. Walrus tusk was the favorable material for handles in the Ottoman arsenal (as well as the Persian one). Hippo tusk handles are found sometimes on Indian and Indonesian blades. It is characterized by a line of tinny dots, looks as if the tusk is made of two halves of slightly different tint glued together. With age the dots are getting dark and looks like a line of black points. See for example a handle of an 18 C. Indian Jambiya dagger:



and another one, a handle of a Javanese Badek dagger: