Interesting Saif with Provenance for Sharing

[A.alnakkas]

Anyone have any idea about the origin of this proof mark?

[Pukka Bundook]

That mark reminds me very much of the Swedish mark, seen on arms made by Carl Gustav.

Richard.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Pukka Bundook

That mark reminds me very much of the Swedish mark, seen on arms made by Carl Gustav.

Richard.

Hey Richard,

Any examples?

[Richard G]

Lotfy,
The mark also resembles (and I mean resembles) an Englsh government inspectors mark. These were a mark of quality control applied to arms intended for British goverment use. They are frequenly found on the well known " Khyber" copies of EIC firearms that still fool an awful lot of people. I have not, as far as I can remember, seen them on any "Khyber" blades, but they do appear on British military issue swords of the mid 19th Cent. and later. I have a nimcha type saif which has a blade in European style but which shows signs of a mechanical watering which in my opinion is almost unheard of in a European blade.
I suggest it is a possibilty that your blade is Indian or Pakistani made, in a European style, and with a spurios stamp, to give it a bit of extra clout. As far as I am aware many of these copies were contemporary with the original.
Regards
Richard

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Richard G

Lotfy,
The mark also resembles (and I mean resembles) an Englsh government inspectors mark. These were a mark of quality control applied to arms intended for British goverment use. They are frequenly found on the well known " Khyber" copies of EIC firearms that still fool an awful lot of people. I have not, as far as I can remember, seen them on any "Khyber" blades, but they do appear on British military issue swords of the mid 19th Cent. and later. I have a nimcha type saif which has a blade in European style but which shows signs of a mechanical watering which in my opinion is almost unheard of in a European blade.
I suggest it is a possibilty that your blade is Indian or Pakistani made, in a European style, and with a spurios stamp, to give it a bit of extra clout. As far as I am aware many of these copies were contemporary with the original.
Regards
Richard

That is quite a possibility. The mounts are Saudi government issued, during the later period of king AbdulAziz or certainly during the reign of King Saud.

The blade is of good quality, and the finish is great. It could be added later but there was no shortage of British blades in the region. I guess a comparative example would be nice.