Recently made Omani Kattara / Saif

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Iain

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.

Salaams Iain ~ I agree however Iconization is an ongoing process since this is living history through the Funoon...The tradition. It is entirely acceptable in this country to add a royal hilt to an old battle sword . In our case we either silver adorn the old hilt or in the case of a rehilt retain the remnants intact of the old hilt and present that framed alongside the iconized item with a certificate and photos. Taking off the old hilt takes 5 minutes as it is only secured with two rivvets and no damage occurs... Im afraid this line of discussion was kicked off with apparent mischief as the only motivator and I tire of such rediculous diversions by others.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams Iain ~ I agree however Iconization is an ongoing process since this is living history through the Funoon...The tradition. It is entirely acceptable in this country to add a royal hilt to an old battle sword . In our case we either silver adorn the old hilt or in the case of a rehilt retain the remnants intact of the old hilt and present that framed alongside the iconized item with a certificate and photos. Taking off the old hilt takes 5 minutes as it is only secured with two rivvets and no damage occurs... Im afraid this line of discussion was kicked off with apparent mischief as the only motivator and I tire of such rediculous diversions by others.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Hi Ibrahiim, I'm glad to hear the rehilting is non invasive and in keeping with the traditions of the culture that produced it. I'm on the extreme end of "don't touch anything" with antiques so I have a bit of an allergic reaction to rehilting.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

oops double entry ... see below

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Iain

Hi Ibrahiim, I'm glad to hear the rehilting is non invasive and in keeping with the traditions of the culture that produced it. I'm on the extreme end of "don't touch anything" with antiques so I have a bit of an allergic reaction to rehilting.

Salaams Iain ~ I completely understand and thank you for your posts which are always constructive and well placed. This is only one of a few hilts I have done including a nice Indian dagger ... However I do a lot of Khanjar hilts that have fallen apart (and anyway they are interchangeable)and we make new Khanjars for the high end UAE market that demands brand new superb quality items. I have a few swords that I wouldnt touch ... they just grow old gracefully and without hilts... so we have a similar outlook.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Im afraid this line of discussion was kicked off with apparent mischief as the only motivator and I tire of such rediculous diversions by others.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Considering that I was the one that started this discussion, no, mischief was the last thing on my mind and if I would want harm I would have stated my points otherwise. Sorry if it came out that way ;-)

I just like items as they are IF they are complete, I see no point in changing the hilt of a perfectly authentic old battle sword but thanks for clarifying that it wont be invasive. Its interesting that Omani's would iconise those old blades yet do not use them as the heraldic symbol for the Sultanate.

The Omani straight saif and the Kattarah were always the symbols used on Omani tv and I remember how much they play the Raz'ha. Any reason why the old battle saif was kept out of the heraldic symbol?

On the topic I made about the Arabian sword dances, the video that shows King Abdullah dancing; it seems that he is wearing a golden Omani khanjar with the royal hilt!