Recently made Omani Kattara / Saif

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

"I have one being Iconised with the Royal Hilt now"

Can you explain please?

Salaams A.alnakkas ~ I have a few old Omani Battle Swords and have one in my workshop being fitted with a royal hilt ~ see picture of Sayf Yamaani and the longer dancing pageant Sayf and the other picture of a Royal Hilt.~
Im putting together an Omani Battle Sword and a Royal Hilt.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[A.alnakkas]

Ibrahim, are you refitting an old complete blade?? Its your choice but.. it seems like destroying a good antique ;-(

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Ibrahim, are you refitting an old complete blade?? Its your choice but.. it seems like destroying a good antique ;-(

Well I have plenty you know... and I always wanted an Iconized Old Omani Battlesword ... and some spare blades etc in the workshops... If it works well I may do a few more... they make good gifts . The hard part is getting a decent scabbard built but I have some originals to copy.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Well I have plenty you know... and I always wanted an Iconized Old Omani Battlesword ... and some spare blades etc in the workshops... If it works well I may do a few more... they make good gifts . The hard part is getting a decent scabbard built but I have some originals to copy.

....but you are NOT creating the real thing....just a REPLICA I do hope that when complete, that it is clearly labeled or the hilt stamped as such, so as not to deceive possible buyers/owners in years to come.
There are enough so called "genuine" pieces around already which the uneducated pay large amounts of money for.....

[David]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

....but you are NOT creating the real thing....just a REPLICA I do hope that when complete, that it is clearly labeled or the hilt stamped as such, so as not to deceive possible buyers/owners in years to come.
There are enough so called "genuine" pieces around already which the uneducated pay large amounts of money for.....

I have to agree here. The problem is not so much in who Ibrahiim chooses to gift or sell to, but who might receive the sword somewhere down the line when the history of the sword is lost or misplaced. Then it becomes a forgery.

[David]

As for the other question at hand, i admittedly know very little about these swords, but to my untrained eye i cannot see how the hilts on these so-called "dance swords" would be at all practical in a battle situation. Not only is there no cross piece to protect the hand, but also no pommel of any substance to keep the blade from slipping out of the hand in the heat of battle.

[Iain]

Originally Posted by David

As for the other question at hand, i admittedly know very little about these swords, but to my untrained eye i cannot see how the hilts on these so-called "dance swords" would be at all practical in a battle situation. Not only is there no cross piece to protect the hand, but also no pommel of any substance to keep the blade from slipping out of the hand in the heat of battle.

Same set up can be seen on a variety of other swords, biggest example would be Manding sabres. That's not to say I claim to know the function of the Omani sayf, but the configuration isn't necessarily something that makes it entirely impractical as a weapon.

As for the other issue of rehilting... I have always maintained we should preserve what comes into our possession. When you are putting something entirely new onto a piece, rather than preserving what exists, or carefully restoring missing pieces to an already existing hilt, it ceases to be restoration.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by David

As for the other question at hand, i admittedly know very little about these swords, but to my untrained eye i cannot see how the hilts on these so-called "dance swords" would be at all practical in a battle situation. Not only is there no cross piece to protect the hand, but also no pommel of any substance to keep the blade from slipping out of the hand in the heat of battle.

The sword is also used for the Raz'ha which contains a sort of combat practice. Am sure losing grip while doing Raz'ha is equally embarrasing (but less lethal then losing grip in battle..) so the hilt is not really an issue, that also considering that there are other examples of swords with no guard or pommel.

Here is the Raz'ha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpfIp_TR_PQ for more context.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by David

As for the other question at hand, i admittedly know very little about these swords, but to my untrained eye i cannot see how the hilts on these so-called "dance swords" would be at all practical in a battle situation. Not only is there no cross piece to protect the hand, but also no pommel of any substance to keep the blade from slipping out of the hand in the heat of battle.

Salaams David ~ In some ways you are right except of course that the sword never went into battle as it is only a dancing sword... The grip is normally fairly firm and often covered in leather however making it a reasonable grip ... but that does not make it a fighting sword... Never was. I am about to address something interesting on Kattara for comments regarding this general phenomena on the long flexible sword and the old omani battle sword.. regarding the tip.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

....but you are NOT creating the real thing....just a REPLICA I do hope that when complete, that it is clearly labeled or the hilt stamped as such, so as not to deceive possible buyers/owners in years to come.
There are enough so called "genuine" pieces around already which the uneducated pay large amounts of money for.....

Salaams kahnjar1~ So that you can understand the Iconization process throughout history you may like to read the balanced and well presented thread at Kattara for comments. In any restoration project whatever is done should be easily reversible. Infact when I rehilt a blade I always keep the original and often frame that as a small presentation for the new owner... and certificate with as accurate a history as I can. Iconization of the old omani battle sword goes on today as a natural extension of the 19th C process and that will be a family sword carried at state occasions pageants and the like in honour of our history...

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams kahnjar1~ So that you can understand the Iconization process throughout history you may like to read the balanced and well presented thread at Kattara for comments. In any restoration project whatever is done should be easily reversible. Infact when I rehilt a blade I always keep the original and often frame that as a small presentation for the new owner... and certificate with as accurate a history as I can. Iconization of the old omani battle sword goes on today as a natural extension of the 19th C process and that will be a family sword carried at state occasions pageants and the like in honour of our history...

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Call it what you like, but my point was that in future years, if this REPLICA surfaces for resale, the future buyer could well be duped if the seller suggests that this is a RARE ORIGINAL ROYAL HILTED SWORD or suchlike and ends up paying huge amounts of money for something which is nothing more than a FAKE. I think by now we all know how good your workshop is at turning out modern made items, so all I am trying to do is safeguard the collectors of the future.

[David]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Call it what you like, but my point was that in future years, if this REPLICA surfaces for resale, the future buyer could well be duped if the seller suggests that this is a RARE ORIGINAL ROYAL HILTED SWORD or suchlike and ends up paying huge amounts of money for something which is nothing more than a FAKE. I think by now we all know how good your workshop is at turning out modern made items, so all I am trying to do is safeguard the collectors of the future.

This was also my point with my other post. There is certainly a danger that the originality of this blade might well be misrepresented to some future buyer.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Call it what you like, but my point was that in future years, if this REPLICA surfaces for resale, the future buyer could well be duped if the seller suggests that this is a RARE ORIGINAL ROYAL HILTED SWORD or suchlike and ends up paying huge amounts of money for something which is nothing more than a FAKE. I think by now we all know how good your workshop is at turning out modern made items, so all I am trying to do is safeguard the collectors of the future.

Salaams kahnjar1,
No such thing as a rare original royal hilt unless you are refering to the one in the museum ~ Like the Royal Hilted Khanjars there is nothing particularly rare about a Royal Hilt... anyone can wear one.. Its traditional, accepted and ongoing.

I expect people will still be Iconizing Khanjars and hilts of swords for hundreds of years here.. That is the Omani way... "The tradition" is alive and well. If you can grasp that perhaps you will be closer to understanding Oman.

If a new piece is added as a replacement on one of my items for example a Khanjar or Sword which has no hilt or the scabbard dissappeared 50 years ago or the silver is incomplete; We restore to as close to perfection as we can. As you know Khanjars are for ever being altered and changed for better blades etc in an upgrading process that goes back centuries.. The same with swords whose hilts often fall apart or the silver becomes battered damaged or lost... see Kattara for comments . I have just posted a fantastic dancing sword whose scabbard is in need of redoing... New silver toe and furniture needed.

In the case of an heirloom piece or a gift or an item for a client the work is recorded, photographed and certificated as it is restored so that there is always a historical account of what we did... and of course it must always be sympathetically carried out and reversible. Thats what we do.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.