Pesh Kabz for comment

[mariusgmioc]

Very nice aquisition!

To me, this looks like a North Indian straight pesh-kabz or "karud."

The wootz appears to be of high quality with a pattern often seen on 18th century blades (but just by judging the photos is hard to say).

[Saracen]

This is a wonderful pesh. I agree with Marius about the origin.
Please tell us more about etching with coffee, I always thought that such an effect can only be obtained with the help of acid.
Clean the remaining bolster pad, it should be made of silver.

[Kubur]

Agreed Northern India or the area


Now about

"It was described as an "Ivory handled short sword, brought back from Tibet".
but it doesn't look Tibetan to my eye".

In fact, nobody said that it was made in Tibet but brought back from.
I won't be surprised if a soldier (British) brought back this dagger from Tibet.
Maybe the dagger was used in Tibet, maybe it was just for sale in an Antique shop. I saw Persian daggers for sale in Damascus and Yemeni jambiya in Cairo...

[Silver John]

Many thanks for the comments Gentlemen. Much appreciated.



Kubur, that's a very good point! Thank you.

Regarding the use of coffee, it was a first for me and something that I learned about on this site. I believe coffee contains tannic acid. I used it because I was away camping when I collected the blade from a nearby auction house, so I had to improvise. I just filled my thermos with strong black coffee and submerged the blade for about 5-10 minutes, I was quite impressed by the results. I repeated the process in a deeper container when I got home. The Pesh Kabz is 16” overall, with an 11.5” blade.

Below are a couple of extra pics of the handle, showing a protrusion with an eye hole. Perhaps it originally had some kind or decorative tassel?

I shall try cleaning up the bolster toady and see what I have.

Thanks again Gents

[Silver John]

Apologies for the blurry pics. I think my phones camera is on the way out!

[Silver John]

Also, on the topic of restoration, I just stumbled upon this interesting and informative article http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journal...amascus-steel/

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Silver John

Regarding the use of coffee, it was a first for me and something that I learned about on this site. I believe coffee contains tannic acid...

Thank you for the detailed explanation of etching with coffee. I read somewhere (maybe here) that even Coca-Cola is used for etching in hotel conditions, but I have never come across information about the use of coffee for this. I'll check this method sometime).

PS: I probably drink too much coffee every day