Classifying shashka--a serious discussion of typology

[Ian]

Andreas, Please take time to translate the Bouttin entry. The translation here is terrible. I have not spoken or written French for 50+ years but I do know that the last sentence should read, "It is one of our collection's best blades." No doubt your French is better than mine, so please favor us with a more meaningful translation.

On the issue of using former European blades in Caucasian shashkas, there are some gaps in logic when assuming that these were converted to shashkas in the 17th-18th C.

Basically, we don't know when these shashkas were made. The blades could have been repurposed, such that a guarded hilt was replaced by the guardless shashka hilt at a later time. High quality blades such as these would have been passed down within families and could have been updated/modified at any time.

Ian

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Ian

Andreas, Please take time to translate the Bouttin entry. The translation here is terrible. I have not spoken or written French for 50+ years but I do know that the last sentence should read, "It is one of our collection's best blades." No doubt your French is better than mine, so please favor us with a more meaningful translation.



Ian

The last sentence indeed translates as "It's one of the best blades of my collection", not a mean compliment I would say, coming from Buttin...
I will try to find time and translate the whole description tomorrow
Regards,
Andreas

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Ian

Andreas, Please take time to translate the Bouttin entry.

Ian

Ian, here is the translation, as promised. I hope it's satisfactory.
Andreas

646. - SABRE OF THE CAUCASUS (Shashka), seventeenth-eighteenth century. (Pl. XX).
Excellent sixteenth century blade, slightly curved and chisel-pointed. Width 0.03 at the shoulder for 17 cm , reduced from there to 0.027 by an abrupt narrowing of the back. Three fullers up to that point, then two up to 0.20 from the tip. From this length, the blade becomes double-edged and has only one fuller which stops at 0.10 from the tip so as to conserve the point all its strength.
On the right side the mark of Genoa , which is the most esteemed in the Caucasus . For that reason it was widely copied by Syrian forgers, but the Genoese blades, especially those of the sixteenth century, are of a much better quality, have more regular fullers and the spaces between them are narrower and end in a sharp edge. The perfectly designed point is inclined enough to allow cutting strokes and at the same time suitable for thrusting, which is rare with shashkas.
Single-piece black horn grip, without guard, the pommel beaked to support the hand, and split into two lobes or ears like those of yataghans, but with a narrower gap. This is the typical form of the shashka hilt.
Green shagreen scabbard without decoration and intended to be worn tucked under the belt. The hilt half-enters in the scabbard.
An old weapon, and in a perfect state of preservation, the incomparable quality of its blade’s steel, would still make it very valuable in the Caucasus today.
It is one of the best blades of our collection.
Length : 0,940. Blade: 0,810.