The Yathagan Collection in the Croatian History Museum catalogue

[Ian]

gp,

Only the originator of a post or Vikingsword staff can post a reply to a thread in Swap. That's why you were unable to post a reply.

[Ian]

A free online copy is a wonderful service provided by the Museum. Thanks for the heads up gp.

[Ian]

Looking through the excellent museum compilation, I noted this interesting piece. A straight yataghan said to be from a cut down saber. Here is the Museum entry:

Hrvatski povijesni muzej / Croatian History Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
Arms and Armoury Collection
DARK-HILTED YATAGAN WITH STRAIGHT BLADE. Hilt: second half of 18th century - around 1830; blade: first half of 18th century
steel, bone; forging, carving
yatagan: 765 : 625 : 35 mm
Inv. No.: HPM/PMH-013054


DESCRIPTION:
A hilt of dark bone with quite large truncated ears. Band of metal decorated with plant adornment, and on the continuation of the hilt with a fish scale motif. Blade reworked from a cutlass, steel, single-edged, straight, with two narrow and two broad fullers.
Wants scabbard. Bone and metal parts of the hilt fairly damaged. Leaf-shaped decoration of the blade missing.
Came into the Museum with the Jelacic Bequest in 1937.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Boskovic, Dora. Zbirka jatagana u Hrvatskom povijesnom muzeju u Zagrebu = The Yatagan Collection of the Croatian History Museum, Zagreb. Katalog muzejskih zbirki XLI. Zagreb : Hrvatski povijesni muzej, 2006. Kat. No. 189;
Sercer, Marija. Jatagani u Povijesnom muzeju Hrvatske. Katalog muzejskih zbirki XI. Zagreb : Povijesni muzej Hrvatske, 1975. Kat. Nr. 172.

In referring to the hilt as "bone," I think they mean horn.

[gp]

Originally Posted by Ian

Looking through the excellent museum compilation, I noted this interesting piece. A straight yataghan said to be from a cut down saber. Here is the Museum entry:
In referring to the hilt as "bone," I think they mean horn.

well that is to be seen; bichaqs and yataghans had hilts made out of horn, ivory but also bones;

2 other museums and one study

http://h.etf.unsa.ba/btp/content/muz..._eng/about.htm

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...e_Banat_Museum

page 327: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/10435

could well be the bone had been darkened...but normally indeed a bone would be white and used for the bjeloscapi / whitecolored yataghan and bichaqs
although an error is human, Dora Bošković has quite some publications and books published, so I can not comment easily on this specific item...

[gp]

by the way, the book by Sercer, Marija. Jatagani u Povijesnom muzeju Hrvatske. Katalog muzejskih zbirki XI. Zagreb : Povijesni muzej Hrvatske, 1975.

is also partially available in German, made for an exhibition in Austria :

Jatagane aus dem Historischen Museum von Kroatien in Zagreb (Agram). Sonderausstellung im Landeszeughaus 9. April - 7. Juni 1976. Graz : Landeszeughaus am Landesmuseum Joanneum, 1976

with regards to " referring to the hilt as "bone," I think they mean horn," ; many hilts of yataghans, bichaqs and kamas were made also from bone ...the poor man's version or cheap repair of the ones and compared to the ones made from walrus, ivory or horn in the Balkans.

I have one yataghan which handle is not completly walrus or ivory, but had a repair from that time (19th century in which the of the handle, the "wing" wasthat badly damaged, that part got repaired / substitued locally by a piece of bone ; the epiphysis).
I shall try to make some good pics to show it.

[serdar]

Those books by dora boskovic and marija sercer are ok, but they got wrong on many yatagan producing techniques.
Best book on weapons that was used on Balkan teritory is Vajsil Čurćić Starinsko oružje u bosni i hercegovini.
In that book it is covered all weapon types and are corect.
Another great book on yatagans is Goran Bubanja jatagani u crnoj gori.
Those two books are excelent.
Museum books are full of wrong data, especialy Split museum book, they have in ther inventar two false albanian made 20 st yatagans that are falsly marked in 15 st, and they dont recognise that, so museum “experts” are 50/50 info.
Pozdrav.

[gp]

thank you for your very interesting comments and feeback; highly appreciated.


Some more literature on the topic:# 33 and # 36,37

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ure#post275457

latest book is by Kozo, topic # 75

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ozo#post270932