Just ended on Ebay ---Jambiya

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 16th February 2012, 08:12 AM

Salaams khanjar 1 ~ I spent a few hours in Muscat yesterday and was lucky enough to get into the souk before 3000 tourists off a cruise ship.. The souk is awash with Yemeni work. Amongst that ... (I will open a new thread actually as I have had in mind for a project on Oman Souks ...) I found a similar hilt to yours though it is likely to be Yemeni? and yours Saudia... though from a closely releted region.. The blade is a mystery to me. As a general note Yemeni work (and I assume Saudia work) often contains a lot of copper in the mixture... this is apparent in items from Yemen post 48 and whereby many of the Jewish artesans left for Israel and it was from that group we previously had seen excellent craftsmanship in purer silver. One would expect that a vibrant industry would have thus been exported and Israel would be turning out sizeable volumes of high quality silver work however as in the case of those Greek artesans(carpet makers) that left Turkey it did not happen and the craft suffered. Pre 48 Yemeni work is sought after and Jewish work caried out by a very few silver workers still in Yemen.. however the bulk of post 48 work is generally medium to low quality low grade mixtures with a greyish greenish tint that doesnt hold its shine at all well... The other big difference is in the method of making which tends to be casting... sand cast as opposed to hand crafted.

Good quality Yemeni work is always sought after and occasionally stunning items come out... There is, however, a huge load of low end work flooding into Oman right now as Yemen goes into freefall somewhat and I shall show this impact on my new thread. Meanwhile here is a similar hilt and I note you have like type on one of your other daggers.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

16th February 2012, 08:12 AM	#7
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams khanjar 1 ~ I spent a few hours in Muscat yesterday and was lucky enough to get into the souk before 3000 tourists off a cruise ship.. The souk is awash with Yemeni work. Amongst that ... (I will open a new thread actually as I have had in mind for a project on Oman Souks ...) I found a similar hilt to yours though it is likely to be Yemeni? and yours Saudia... though from a closely releted region.. The blade is a mystery to me. As a general note Yemeni work (and I assume Saudia work) often contains a lot of copper in the mixture... this is apparent in items from Yemen post 48 and whereby many of the Jewish artesans left for Israel and it was from that group we previously had seen excellent craftsmanship in purer silver. One would expect that a vibrant industry would have thus been exported and Israel would be turning out sizeable volumes of high quality silver work however as in the case of those Greek artesans(carpet makers) that left Turkey it did not happen and the craft suffered. Pre 48 Yemeni work is sought after and Jewish work caried out by a very few silver workers still in Yemen.. however the bulk of post 48 work is generally medium to low quality low grade mixtures with a greyish greenish tint that doesnt hold its shine at all well... The other big difference is in the method of making which tends to be casting... sand cast as opposed to hand crafted. Good quality Yemeni work is always sought after and occasionally stunning items come out... There is, however, a huge load of low end work flooding into Oman right now as Yemen goes into freefall somewhat and I shall show this impact on my new thread. Meanwhile here is a similar hilt and I note you have like type on one of your other daggers. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Attached Images