Interesting Ottoman-Arab Dagger

Oliver Pinchot · 20th October 2014, 05:44 PM

Sorry to weigh in a little belatedly, Alex and Ilias nailed it. It's a classic form of Ottoman dagger from the first half of the 17th century. The faceted, waisted grip is characteristic, and is the lightly-curved, double-edged blade. This type of wootz is often found on Ottoman blades; it was called Istanbul Beyaz, or Istanbul White, as the constituents tend to etch very pale, usually ranging from silver to a light gray at the darkest. Patterns are usually random, like the examples shown.
The scabbards of these daggers are their most distinctive characteristic, this one has long since been replaced, apparently in northeast Africa. One rarely sees these on the market. Nice catch, Charles.

CharlesS · 20th October 2014, 06:20 PM

Thanks for the input guys.

It's pretty clear this piece has more aged than I expected. The downgraded and almost surely replaced scabbard certainly suggests a NE Africa attribution as Oliver has noted and I can only imagine how many hands it has been through in its long service life, apparently most recently in Africa. ...oh if they could only talk!!!

20th October 2014, 05:44 PM	#1
Oliver Pinchot Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 462	Sorry to weigh in a little belatedly, Alex and Ilias nailed it. It's a classic form of Ottoman dagger from the first half of the 17th century. The faceted, waisted grip is characteristic, and is the lightly-curved, double-edged blade. This type of wootz is often found on Ottoman blades; it was called Istanbul Beyaz, or Istanbul White, as the constituents tend to etch very pale, usually ranging from silver to a light gray at the darkest. Patterns are usually random, like the examples shown. The scabbards of these daggers are their most distinctive characteristic, this one has long since been replaced, apparently in northeast Africa. One rarely sees these on the market. Nice catch, Charles.

20th October 2014, 06:20 PM	#2
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,854	Thanks for the input guys. It's pretty clear this piece has more aged than I expected. The downgraded and almost surely replaced scabbard certainly suggests a NE Africa attribution as Oliver has noted and I can only imagine how many hands it has been through in its long service life, apparently most recently in Africa. ...oh if they could only talk!!!