Thouma Jambiya by BOUSANI

[Dom]

Hi Stu
excellent jambiya , especially with his belt, accessories
and the stamp of the master craftsman, which authenticates the origin

if one day you look for a shelter for it, I should ... surely find a place
thanks to have given us the pleasure to share with us

all the best

à +

Dom

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams Khanjar 1~ This is indeed an important addition to Forum reminding us that these silversmiths are all but lost to history although there is a handful left operating in Yemen. It further serves to illustrate the linkage and influence reflected in Omani silverwork underscored by Ruth Hawley in her famous pamphlet Omani Silver who states that Quote "Jews too may have worked silver in Oman".Unquote. She goes on to draw several parallels with Omani and Yemeni silver designs.

See http://thewalters.org/eventscalendar...ls.aspx?e=2548 for further work by such Yemeni Jewish masters including important buckle identification and another Thuma.

Jesus ben Sirach (Ecclesiastus) writing during the Greek period at the end of the third century BCE, describes the activity of Judaic smiths in vivid poetry:

The maker of carving and cunning device,
Who by night as by day has no rest,
Who engraveth signet rings,
Whose art is to make the likeness true,
And his anxiety is to complete the work.
So also the smith that sitteth by the furnace,
And regardeth his weighty vessels;
The flame of the fire cracketh his flesh,
And with the heat of his furnace he gloweth;
To the hammer's sound he inclineth his ear,
And to the vessel's pattern he directeth his eyes.

For an interesting historical version of Jewish craftsmanship including their presence in Yemen and other countries in Arabia see http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpa...017-1_gold.htm

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams Khanjar 1~ This is indeed an important addition to Forum reminding us that these silversmiths are all but lost to history although there is a handful left operating in Yemen. It further serves to illustrate the linkage and influence reflected in Omani silverwork underscored by Ruth Hawley in her famous pamphlet Omani Silver who states that Quote "Jews too may have worked silver in Oman".Unquote. She goes on to draw several parallels with Omani and Yemeni silver designs.

See http://thewalters.org/eventscalendar...ls.aspx?e=2548 for further work by such Yemeni Jewish masters including important buckle identification and another Thuma.

Jesus ben Sirach (Ecclesiastus) writing during the Greek period at the end of the third century BCE, describes the activity of Judaic smiths in vivid poetry:

The maker of carving and cunning device,
Who by night as by day has no rest,
Who engraveth signet rings,
Whose art is to make the likeness true,
And his anxiety is to complete the work.
So also the smith that sitteth by the furnace,
And regardeth his weighty vessels;
The flame of the fire cracketh his flesh,
And with the heat of his furnace he gloweth;
To the hammer's sound he inclineth his ear,
And to the vessel's pattern he directeth his eyes.

For an interesting historical version of Jewish craftsmanship including their presence in Yemen and other countries in Arabia see http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpa...017-1_gold.htm

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

**************************************
Salaams Khanjar 1.
On closer inspection I note a number of anomalies with the assembled item.

1. The Dagger is added and comes from an ordinary Jambia.
2. It appears that there may be 3 items of silver from different smiths ~

a. The stamped girdle buckle.
b. The top rectangle of the scabbard.
c. The rest of the scabbard furniture. (and probably the belt buttons)

The belt is probably a random Yemeni belt.

It may be that the items 2a and 2c are linked though a simple inspection to the reverse should identify the stamps perhaps?

So that a clear picture can be made on forum can you kindly say which parts are original and which parts were placed by you?

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

**************************************
Salaams Khanjar 1.
On closer inspection I note a number of anomalies with the assembled item.

1. The Dagger is added and comes from an ordinary Jambia.
2. It appears that there may be 3 items of silver from different smiths ~

a. The stamped girdle buckle.
b. The top rectangle of the scabbard.
c. The rest of the scabbard furniture. (and probably the belt buttons)

The belt is probably a random Yemeni belt.

It may be that the items 2a and 2c are linked though a simple inspection to the reverse should identify the stamps perhaps?

So that a clear picture can be made on forum can you kindly say which parts are original and which parts were placed by you?

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

The whole item is as I received it. Unlike some, I do not replace parts of the original to try and create something else.
You state that the work is that of three different smiths. Perhaps you could enlighten us with their names, and the particular features which identify them??

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

The whole item is as I received it. Unlike some, I do not replace parts of the original to try and create something else.
You state that the work is that of three different smiths. Perhaps you could enlighten us with their names, and the particular features which identify them??

The three different smiths ah yes ... I believe one of them is Bedihi and the other Bawdani (Boudani) and though the stamp is upside down I cannot make it out on the girth buckle but Dom reckons Aaron etc etc...so thats three.

(Frankly Im not "so concerned" with the silver stamps since the one in question is likely to be Jewish and they were all pretty brilliant silversmiths... which is why it may be worth looking on the reverse of the plates.)

It depends what you mean by identifying them as they were very similar in design...all Im pointing out is that there appears to be more than one style and perhaps as many as three ... or four if you include the dagger.
The rectangular plate at the throat of the scabbard is certainly Jewish work but of a much older date...it is evenly very worn with a deeper patina and a quality to it that speaks of Bedihi in my view.
The bigger plates below may be Bawdani; certainly Jewish but not as old...
The belt buckle dominant feature marking it as different from the others is the very long leaf folded silver wire designs probably a speciality of Aaron... by the way there is an item missing which is the other bit of the buckle and an example can be seen at http://vividvault.com/wp-content/upl...-end-Yemen.jpg

Remember that they were making weapons not for themselves but solely for the Yemeni clients so anything could have happened afterwards. In terms of jewellery you probably realise that though Jewish women wore different items of jewellery from the Yemenis notably since it was worn for different reasons mainly practical around the hood of their cloaks but occasionally and for talismanic reasons they wore the jewellery of "the others" as protection from djinns etc....that it was all made by the same Jewish smiths is quite formidable... but it perhaps underscores how difficult tracing stamps may turn out to be because there were many and all of a sudden they almost all vanished.

This is an immense subject but since the door has been opened it can run and run especially on the vast detail as yet uncatalogued about hallmarks/stamps... I would have thought that would have been something to work on since you don't appear to have time for restoration it seems ? Better to leave it to the experts I suppose

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams,
I asked my workshops people to look at the item in case from the restoration/ workshop bench angle further clues could be gleaned by their expert eyes. They think the dagger has been worked on with the addition of a new blade and gilding work on the two floral flowers both added recently. There is araldite behind the top flower (or some odd glue). The hilt is cowhorn. There are several silver styles of different makers.

The scabbard has two different silver makers work with as I said earlier the top rectangle being older, probably antique, though both styles appear to be Jewish Yemeni work. The leather normally expected to line the outer wooden sheath is missing in the top section at least.

The belt is probably a replacement (not that unusual) with a girth buckle as described and floral buttons.

The general consensus is that the project has been worked up from a series of spare parts by a workshop/restorer and aimed not at the Arab market but at the foreign collector/tourist market.

Why? This is a lesson for all beginners in collecting Southern Arabian (and Omani) daggers; The first thing a local observes on inspecting a weapon is the blade. The second thing is the hilt. Two items which are normally quite expensive. Cheap blades/cheap hilts both = Tourist daggers.

Jewish Yemeni makers clients were Yemeni Arabs..Very decerning about their daggers as "badge of office" and willing to pay the price for top quality blades and hilts ~ Thuma or Jambia ~ Neither this blade nor this hilt would adorn the original finely worked scabbard. The final inspection would be on the third subject "the scabbard and belt". The discerning local buyer would probably be looking for silver workmanship from one craftsman; not several.

On the other hand collectors (and tourists) tend not to be so concerned about the blade and provided the scabbard looks ok and the hilt looks reasonable they often take on project worked items of this quality. On the one hand adorned with some superb Jewish plates and on the other less well matched additions though giving an over all impression of "nice."

So it is with the restorers eye that I have reverse engineered this project dagger showing about 6 stages of a reworked/ rebuilding process designed to reintroduce the Thuma onto the international market by cleverly masking the real situation. So the lessons for inspection are important; Consider first the blade then the hilt~ If they aren't up to the mark it is likely not to be real. If its not real its "likely" to be a tourist dagger.

Khanjar 1 whilst I am very upbeat about the Jewish Yemeni stamp and even more so about the superb Jewish Yemeni silver rectangle at the throat of the scabbard, I have to be honest with the restoration revue but at the same time urge further research into the important area of Jewish involvement especially in the stamps. Steven Gracies superb work on Yemeni daggers is a good starting point for anyone researching the general subject and the pictures are brilliant.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[kahnjar1]

Salaams Ibrahiim,
I find your comments really interesting especially considering that most of the Khanjars and Jambiyas you display on your many posts are obviously new, or at least well worked over so that any originality has been destroyed.
If the Bousani has been worked on in the past, at least it still shows some age, and a good deal of its originality. Bousani was well known for fine silver work, BUT ALSO for pierced work.
It is a well known fact, at least in Yemen, that the Jambiyas themselves are often replaced in an old and original scabbard, so I am not at all surprised if this Jambiya is a replacement, and is not the same age as the rest of the "set".
If you have Steve Gracie's book, and your comments suggest that you have, then maybe you should read it, and particularly note the comments he makes regarding the making of the Jambiya "set". Steve does currently, and has in the past, travelled extensivly in Yemen and has many contacts there, and I believe that he knows what he is talking about.