Thouma Jambiya by BOUSANI

[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.

[A.alnakkas]

Yemeni, Omani and Saudi items tend to have slightly different decoration scheme at the throat then the rest of the scabbard. Just because the throat is different then the rest doesnt say much about the age or replacement.

Also the assessment about the blade is... so made up its not even funny. There is nothing that suggests the blade to be of poor quality or 'not fit for the scabbard'

Agree on the hilt though.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Yemeni, Omani and Saudi items tend to have slightly different decoration scheme at the throat then the rest of the scabbard. Just because the throat is different then the rest doesnt say much about the age or replacement.

Also the assessment about the blade is... so made up its not even funny. There is nothing that suggests the blade to be of poor quality or 'not fit for the scabbard'

Agree on the hilt though.

Salaams A.alnakkas ~ On the subject of the top rectangle~Its not so important a point really since the very interesting detail is in the craftsmanship of the various silver plates in general. Looking closely however at the wear on the top section it seems to be far older than the remainder... Im not denegrating it in any way because of that.. I am reverse engineering what I believe to be a project piece put together from spare parts albeit rather nice in places and having described the mental process a local buyer goes through when examining a potential purchase. Even if you think the blade is original (I don't neither does Khanjar ! see #1 Quote"The blade is nothing out of the ordinary" Unquote..) there is a question over the hilt as you have agreed and further I suggest that the gold floral buttons are recent and done deliberately to match the floral decor in the scabbard. I simply reverse engineered that thus the entire hilt comes into question as per my previous post suggesting it is a 6 part restoration project.
I stick to my revue on that score but that should not deflect the thread which I believe can go on to discus Jewish-Yemeni craftsmanship in some depth.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by 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.

Salaams kahnjar1 ~ Your opener is odd since certainly I show the ancient battle swords and Khanjars old and new..perhaps your computer screen is affected by the light... or needs adjusting We do a lot of new work that is true but that is the subtle difference in understanding old and new ethnographic arms. Oddly the ancient techniques are ongoing and whereas a local buyer will purchase antique and old work there is a huge demand for brand new pieces. I don't think my pictures divulge any loss in originality though it is also true that clients want clean Khanjars. After all, it only takes a very short time for the khanjars to develop patina since the silver oxidises very fast. Etho arms collectors internationally want patina but here, "where the metal meets the meat"... they don't.

Studying this item is a good way to absorb a lot of the specialist techniques in the earlier Jewish dominated silver crafts of Yemen. This isn't a competition nor is it a show of whos got the nicest lollipop but whilst forum members are absolutely within their rights to sensationalise with comments like wow, oooh, super, lovely and I wish I had one, other more serious comments must be expected which can sometimes lead to a heated, debated, discussion. In that way often fresh facts pop out or the thread ploughs forth into unknown but fascinating territory. The end result is a forum winner. A team effort.

I dont have the book by Steve Gracie but I'm getting it.

All my knowledge comes from hands on and common sense... plus a certain amount of web work and reading our forum library. Because of the influence on Omani ethnographics it is vital for me to get on top of the Yemeni subject.

Incidentally ~ There are two books that I may have reccommended to forum that I regret to report should be struck off viz;

1.Ethnic Jewellery edited by John Mack published for the trustees of the British Museum ( at the time of publication he was Keeper at the Museum of Mankind(department of Ethnography) , The British Museum. The book comprises 207 pages of work with a special chapter devoted to The Middle East.

2.Arab and Islamic Silver by Dr. Saad al Jadir. 216 pages with a vast 37 page section devoted to Oman and Yemen.

Neither book mentions Jewish Silver Craftsmanship; neither in the sections devoted to Yemen nor in the sections on adjoining countries... It is like they never existed. Nothing exists in the index or in the body of the books. The books must have been proof read by an ethnographic elimination panel. They are washed clean of any mention of Jewish Craftsmanship in all respects... I was shocked. I threw them away.

Therefor I look forward to getting a decent book on the subject.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[ariel]

I guess the "hands-on" source of info is tremendously important. When local contemporary masters who are actively involved in restoration of old weapons and manufacture of new ones tell me that they can see signs of renovation and of recent assembly, I tend to take their opinion seriously.
There is nothing personal here. That's what this Forum is for. If we want to hold our collections in unqualified esteem, we should not show them to strangers and ask for input. We may have our balloons popped. Some of mine certainly were :-)
With best wishes to all.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by ariel

I guess the "hands-on" source of info is tremendously important. When local contemporary masters who are actively involved in restoration of old weapons and manufacture of new ones tell me that they can see signs of renovation and of recent assembly, I tend to take their opinion seriously.
There is nothing personal here. That's what this Forum is for. If we want to hold our collections in unqualified esteem, we should not show them to strangers and ask for input. We may have our balloons popped. Some of mine certainly were :-)
With best wishes to all.

I totally agree that "hands on" experience is the best way to judge. Most of the "comments" here are coming from a position (in his own words) of lack of knowledge of Yemeni items. I have absolutely no doubt that Ibrahiims knowledge of OMANI items is vaste, but we are not talking Omani.
Please don't get me wrong, as if I was not seeking comment (good and bad) I would not have posted this Jambiya here. I have however total confidence in Steve Gracie, who would have one of the best collections of Yemeni items outside Yemen. He is also well travelled in that area, and has a wealth of knowledge on the subject.
This Jambiya has "been around" but is NOT as Ibrahiim seems to think a "put together piece". We will leave that description for those who manufacture replicas.

[ariel]

I might have missed something: are you saying that Mr. Gracie personally examined this jambiya? If so, I would value his opinion very much.. Having said that, I also know that even the best specialists in any particular area often disagree. One chooses which expert to believe :-)

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams Khanjar 1 and Ariel.
Well its not a replica. But its also not what you say it is at #1; A Bawsani Thouma. Its probably got a bit of Bawsani on it..I mean its like an airy room. Its got "some" air in it.

This project Thuma is floated in as a Bawsani under the banner A Bawsani Thouma. Personally I think there is more than one Jewish craftsmans silver platework here but its not all originally from one workshop( there may be as many as 6 Jewish silver plates/items involved and I can see the workshop program that has assembled it. Im not saying that is bad... I'm saying that assuming it to be a Bawsani Thuma is a big stretch. On that note you may wish to re work your #1 description to realign your assumptions; I see nothing wrong with that.

I spend a lot of time redoing past theories when I realise something is not quite right. Bawsani work on a Yemeni Thouma may be a reasonable place to start re aligning the thread no? That way it opens the door to a rich potential development based on Jewish-Yemeni craftsmanship.

It is unlikely, however, the scabbard and silver belt parts may be Bawsani and/or a closely related workshop but from different periods ~ You could further argue that there is as much as about 50 years difference in the age on the throat rectangle compared to the other pieces and I would go along with that. That alone makes it worth studying.

As I said before it would be worth looking to see if there are stamps on the other plates. That at least leaves the door open for further discussion regarding what you may have to hand.

I suspect a slight change in the name be investigated as Bawsani and if Dom can please look at that on the stamp. The web reference for this family stamp is http://www.arabiafelixjewels.com/tag...ewish-filigree and they worked at the House of Baws or Beit Baws. The beads are also called Bawsani. See also Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41. under Notes at the end of this post.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Notes to Library; The following is by Anisa Naon and is a bit of background on Yemeni work so that already we begin to roll out this thread to where I believe it ought to be going... along a rich road of discovery on the subject of Yemeni and Jewish-Yemeni silver craftsmanship ~ This document is as is uncorrected for prose and grammar (but the last few lines are outlined in bold by me.) There is, however, great beauty in her use of words viz;

Quote" The Ethnic Use of Silver Jewellery in Yemen
The Ethnic Use of Silver Jewellery in Yemen
By Anisa Naon.

The use of Jewellery has always been very extended in the Yemeni society, and it's an interesting fact, that Jews and Muslims wore different pieces of jewellery. There was a big difference in the use of traditional jewels, from one area of the country to other areas, what was worn and when was clearly defined in each place.
The ambar beads were mostly used by Sanaani Muslim women, but in rural areas was also worn by Jewish girls.
Rural areas presented less differences than big cities like Sana'a. The city life for Jews was more interior and had less contact with the Muslim population.
Most of the jewelers were Jewish themselves and they used to work lots of hours in minimum details to generate that beauties made of fine filigree.
The fact that the costume for Jewish and for Muslim women was different, shows another reason for the different jewels worn. Muslim women used to wear headscarves, and Jewish women wore a complement called gargush, that looks like a hood. The jewellery needed by Muslim women was mostly to keep the scarves together.The Jewish jewels were pieces to add to the hood, like filigree gold, silver brooches,coins like the Maria Theresia Thaler, and several dangling beads. Some of the pendants on the gargush had the shape of daylife things like the grains of wheat or barley, used to make everyday bread. The shapes representing the fertility of the nature give a symbolic meaning to the costume and jewellery.
Other interesting aspect in the relations between Muslim and Jewish in Yemen was the fact that for some specific occasions, it was important to wear jewels made by "the other" meaning who is not us, our community or made by a foreigner. Those jewels were supposed to possess a special blessing (baraka). The dugags of spheric beads where normally used by Muslim women daily, but Jewish women used to wear them specially on the wedding day. Jewish children also use to wear spheric dugags for extra protection. The special care for women and children comes from the exposure to many pregnancies without medical care and the natural vulnerability of the children.
Jewish silversmiths used to have Muslim and Jewish customers, they also used to work for the royal Muslims, working specially with gold instead of the usual silver. These jewelers also worked doing decoration for the daggers worn by Muslims but not by the Jewish men. This decoration includes some parts of the dagger like amulets and other accessories used with the belt and the djambia
It´s an interesting point that some of the jewelers were rabbis, they used to study the sacred texts and also dedicate their life to silversmithing. What i find very interesting is that, as they were students of the Kabalah and the Bible, they knew the symbolic meaning if the designs, their amuletic connotations and their connection to the Kabalistic texts. The fine techniques used in the creation of Yemeni jewellery was passed generation after generation as family secrets. During the last Imam rule of Yemen, some Jewish silvermiths were called to teach their knowledge to Muslim jewelers, as most of the Jewish community was leaving the country to go to The Holy Land. Nowadays there are some newly Jewish style jewels, but the original antique ones show the finest techniques, like the Bedihi granulation and the finest examples of Bawsani filigree". Unquote

Further reading:
Colyer Ross, H. 1978 Bedouin Jewelry in Saudi Arabia. London, Stacey International:

Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41.

Jenkins, M. and M. Keene 1982 Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Muchawsky-Schnapper, E. 2000 The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture. Jerusalem,The Israel Museum:

[spiral]

Originally Posted by ariel

If we want to hold our collections in unqualified esteem, we should not show them to strangers and ask for input. We may have our balloons popped.

Excelent & very true comment Ariel.

A fascinating thread indeed.

I dont know if it helps but heres a fewsnippets to add to the pot.

First a couple of silver marks...

I wonder if they are of relevance here I suspect they are?

Secondly. In "cult of the Jambiya" by Schuyler V.R. Camman {1977}

Schuler states several intersting things re. the Yemeni jambiya inc....

Spiral

Pics arranged as decided by forum software!

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams all~ Nice reference by Spiral. Heres the full story on that ~ see
http://www.penn.museum/documents/pub...-2/Cammann.pdf

~and the biography of this amazing man (Schuyler V.R. Camman) which can be seen on interesting jambiya on eBay by Lew at #40. The stamps shown by Spiral are very significant as one is identical to the mark at #1 of this thread. I am sure that Dom will be all over these stamps fairly immediately !

I wonder if anyone has the stamp record I showed previously as Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41.

The Cammann visit was sometime ago... 1977 therefor I expect documentary proof in work written since then to be further enhanced and look forward to getting Steven Gracies book.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi

[Dom]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

I am sure that Dom will be all over these stamps fairly immediately !

aleikum salam
Ibrahiim ... you wrote immediately
but it's without to take in your account, the difficulty of reading ...
even, after headache, a name (?) didn't found a translation ...
now here our statement;

- the stamp recorded on pic as n°1 is the same origin than already translated
AARON BEN CHAMAT his Jewish root is without doubt

- the stamp recorded on pic as n°2 is different and is without contest from an Muslim workshop,
is consisting of names, but one hasn't be translated (?)
in the sens of reading;
- in "yellow" ... HUSSEIN
- in "white" ... (?)
- in "green" ... MOHLESS
- in "red" ... SAYED

colors aren't for puerile beautification ...
it's just to justify to the Arabic readers, our understanding,
and to give them a chance to correct if necessary

sorry, if that has been a bit long ... but really not easy

à +

Dom

[spiral]

Many thanks Dom!

Yes Ibrahiim , Ive seen that stamp, is it applied on a seperate piece of metal? I dont know if thats common in Yemeni jewelry , but in many countries it how stamps are "moved" from one peice of jewelry to another to give fake provinance.

So the Muslim one we can discount for this discusian.

Here a picture showing the front of the chape carrying the same mark as yours Khanjar.

I have clipped it down in size as it is still currently for sale. {Unfortuanatly its hilt is very sad one. }

Spiral

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by spiral

Excelent & very true comment Ariel.

A fascinating thread indeed.

I dont know if it helps but heres a fewsnippets to add to the pot.

First a couple of silver marks...

I wonder if they are of relevance here I suspect they are?

Secondly. In "cult of the Jambiya" by Schuyler V.R. Camman {1977}

Schuler states several intersting things re. the Yemeni jambiya inc....

Spiral

Pics arranged as decided by forum software!

Salaams Spiral ~ Did you get a reference for those 2 stamps? One is is identical to the stamp on the subject item at #1 but the other I dont know. I also see stamps on Recent Jambiya and a new Khanjar by archer. I feel certain that in time we will blow the lid off the subject of Yemeni stamps once that book reference is tracked down Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[spiral]

Salams Ibrahiim,

I am awaiting translation to see whether the first mark is relevent, it on a piece of jewelry possibly from the family concerned?

From the works I have read. I understand Bawsani is often used for work done in the Bawsani style in Saana. Which could cause problems with research there on occasion I imagine.


The identicle mark I hoped would offer more info as it seems clearer to me?

It is from a Jambiya currently up for sale on the net. Its very good & I am sure old work.

The magazine your after can be ordered from there website.

http://www.ornamentmagazine.com/stor...ilter_tag=26.4

Spiral

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by spiral

Salams Ibrahiim,

I am awaiting translation to see whether the first mark is relevent, it on a piece of jewelry possibly from the family concerned?

From the works I have read. I understand Bawsani is often used for work done in the Bawsani style in Saana. Which could cause problems with research there on occasion I imagine.


The identicle mark I hoped would offer more info as it seems clearer to me?

It is from a Jambiya currently up for sale on the net. Its very good & I am sure old work.

The magazine your after can be ordered from there website.

http://www.ornamentmagazine.com/stor...ilter_tag=26.4

Spiral

Salaams Spiral I see it now ya...Shukran~ There is another stamp at http://www.arabiafelixjewels.com/ant...-necklace.html
on a pendant....
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.