18th Centuary Ottoman Kard.
 

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share some photos of this item with you and hope that you can provide me with more information about it.

I was told by the seller some years ago that it was 18th C and possibly of Kurdish origin. It is a very nice piece and well made. The hilt is of light green jade having a black gem stone in a gold or gilt frame on the pommel with a gilt collar between the hilt and blade. The blade is single edged with a an inscription in gold on one side which I would welcome someone to translate if possible. I believe the blade to be wootz ? but I don't really know.

The scabbard is of wood covered with black leather stitched in the Ottoman fashion with gold coloured wire and fitted with silver gilt locket and chape.
Overall length is 14.125 ins with a 10 ins long x 0.875 ins wide blade.
Tirri in his book Maghreb to Moghul shows two similar Kards on page 167 plate 117C which he has put in the Balkan section of the book ?
Thanking you in anticipation.
Miguel

Definitely Ottoman. Maybe Balkan? Does look jade, onyx, gilt silver. And yes looks like Turkish wootz.

I am not aware of these belonging to Kurdish sections of he empire though.

The seam on the scabbard doesn't look traditionally Ottoman but more recent.

What a great piece and thanks for sharing!

Nice kard, the mounts look Ottoman to me, not sure were the Kurdish description came from.

For me its a gorgeous Turkish ottoman kard
Really nice

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and information, I am now pretty certain it is Ottoman Turkish. If it is possible I would be grateful if anyone would mind translating the inscription.
Kind regards
Miguel

Hey Miguel,

It says "Saheb Taher Omar Bek"

Owner Taher Omar Bek. :-))

Lovely example.

Beautiful piece
 

Congratulations for this beautiful piece!

The blade appears to be pattern welded. If this would be the case then it would be most likely Turkey, not Balkans.

Te grip might be green onyx, which is found in central Anatolia, but is hard to say only from the photos.

Thank you for the translation I am very grateful.
Kind regards
Miguel

Thank you for your comments. I am not sure of the blade pattern it looks like dark wootz to me but not being very knowledgeable on blade patterns I don't really know.
The handle is green jade.
Kind regards
Migue

Is is a picture of one type of pattern weld:

Here is one form of wootz:

After some polishing and etching, I think you will find Turkish wootz (which is low contrast) in your blade.

Thank you Battara for the examples of pattern welded and wootz blades and comments I am much obliged to you.
Regards
Miguel

Restauration of antique oriental Damascus / Wootz blades

1. always wear protective vinyl gloves
2. clean the blade thoroughly with White Spirit
(3.) if the surface is rusty, remove all rust with Picreator’s Renaissance Metal De-Corroder, by either completely immersing the blade in the liquid or applying the liquid locally where needed
(4.) if the surface is badly pitted, polish the surface with sandpaper up to grit 2000-5000 (be careful that polishing is removing material from the blade, thus, it is an invasive procedure and should be applied with restraint; wootz is highly susceptible to pitting but slight pitting does not affect the end result too badly)
5. clean thoroughly the blade with White Spirit
6. etch the blade with Nital (solution of nitric acid 3-5% in alcohol) or with ferric chloride (20%)
6.1. protect the areas that do not need to be etched with polyethylene foil (cling film) and/or with Renaissance Wax
6.2. immerse the blade in the etchant solution, or apply the solution with cotton swabs, in quick moves in order to distribute the etchant evenly over the whole surface
6.3. the time for etchant to work should be very short, around 3-7 seconds, depending on the quality of the steel and the quality of the etchant (longer times tend to cause a golden oxidation and can completely mask the watering patterns of the Wootz)
6.4. remove all the etchant by flushing it generously with running water (some suggest to neutralize the etchant by using water with baking soda but I did not try it)
6.5. dry thoroughly the blade with soft, absorbent tissue, and if necessary use a hot air blower (but make sure the air is not too hot since differential dilatation of the components of the weapon can cause major damage)
(6.6.) wipe very gently the blade with cotton swabs and Picreator’s Pre-Lim polishing paste (I use this to remove the golden oxidation that appears occasionally)
6.7. clean the blade thoroughly with White Spirit
(6.8.) repeat steps 6.2-6.7 two or three times
7. protect the whole blade with Picreator’s Renaissance Wax for long term conservation

Observations:
a. The quality of the end result depends mainly on
the quality of the Wootz
the heat treatment of the blade
the quality of the etchant.
b. I had situations where I got very different results, varying from a very high contrast, dark pattern similar to Kara Taban, to low contrast silvery-grey watering pattern over the length of the very same blade. I assume this was caused by the different heat treatment the blade was exposed to.

Any suggestions or comments that would help improve this technique would be welcomed.

Hello Battara,
I am very interested to learn more about Turkish wootz as I was under the impression that all Turkish wootz blades were actually made in Persia and only finished & mounted in Turkey.

Would the wootz of the Biçak in the photos attached be Turkish wootz?

How do you etch wootz blades?

There was great trade of Persian wootz into Turkey and even into India. Turkish wootz is low contrast, while Persian wootz is known for being a high contrast wootz like what is in this picture. The bichak you have pictured is a lower contrast Turkish wootz.

Rsword and CharlesS can tell you even more about these (as well as Indian) types of wootz.

Thank you!

:)

Might be completely on the wrong track here, but isn't the inscription on the original kard upside down, so as to speak?
Regards
Richard

I've noticed that on some bichaqs the inscriptions are written "upside down". I have one also with a jade hilt and wootz with the gold koftgari inscription written the same way.

Interesting isn't it? :shrug:

Thanks for this info but I would be reluctant to clean and etch this blade in case I damaged it, however I do have some helmets with chain mail around the bottom which is rusted and would be like to know if Picreator’s Renaissance Metal De-Corroder would be suitable for removing the rust?
Regards
Miguel

What country are you in?

Picreator's Metal De-corroder is specifically designed to remove the rust but, it is rather expensive.

Here is the link to Pireator's website where you can find more information on their products.

http://www.picreator.co.uk/articles/1_about_us.htm

As with regards to cleaning and etching the blade, is always better safe than sorry. ;)

PS: I don't really believe that is relevant whether the hilt is Jadeite, Nephrite (these two are known under the generic name of Jade), Serpentine or Onyx as they are very similar and sometimes it is very difficult even for connoisseurs to distinguish them. Yet, for your hilt my bet would be Onyx (it is a Turkish knife and they have some beautiful green Onyx deposits in Central Anatolia).
Just be aware that much of what is called "Jade" is not Jade (namely Jadeite or Nephrite) but Serpentine, Onyx and other similar minerals and sometimes even glass (most of the Chinese "jade" figures you can buy on the net are actually glass).

Why do you ask ?

Thank you for the information.

Miquel, some derusters are only available in certain regions, there are some very good ones available in North America which you can not get in other areas and vice versa.

I see why you asked, I am in the UK.
Regards
Miguel

Here is another small Ottoman kard.

In the book Rites of Power. Oriental Weapons. ISBN 978-989-658-056-8. Three of these kards are shown, all three are said to be Turkish from the 19th century.

Beautiful! Thank you!
:)

Did you check it for wootz?

Close examination shows no sign of wootz, I have not tried etching but eventually I may try it.

Whether it is wootz or not, it is a very nice kard.

If closer examination doesn't show any signs of wootz, maybe it would be better not to try anything as etching may involve cleaning/polishing the blade first.

This brings up an interesting point. In our time if we were to have a nice dagger, knife or sword made I think most people would choose to have a wootz blade, but I have seen examples of extremely nice weapons that use blades that never had a visible wootz pattern, why would this be.

I guess there are more reasons to the situation you mentioned.

First, it is the aura of super-steel that "Oriental Damascus" has aquired over the centuries.

Second, it is the scarcity of wootz blades.

Third, may be that a wootz blade is guaranteed antique and genuine.

In my oppinion, the fame of wootz was well deserved up to the 16th century (debatable) since its mechanical properties were superior to most European steels. However, begining with 16th century, European steels improved dramatically and became equal or even superior to wootz. Yet, since the Europeans couldn't create wootz themselves, the aura of oriental mistique remained and even grew further.

As with regards, to wootz scarcity, well, I don't think it is that scarce after all, but the fact that even today there isn't an economically efficient way to produce it, just adds to its fame and mistique.

The third reason is however the only valid one since you will never find a fake wootz blade, unless it isn't wootz but only made to look like it.

Here is another small Ottoman kard

Lovely example I like the scabbard.
This design of kard as with mine always reminds me of ornate table knives.
Regards
Miguel

Hi Jens,

I think we are both correct with the dating as my ref says late 18th early 19th C.
Regards
Miguel

They certainly do not seem to be weapons, I also have thought of them as fancy knifes for eating.

I beg to differ!

They are certainly weapons!

For cutlery you don't need to have such long blades (just have a look at the length of the blade in comparison with the hilt, then compare them with the ottoman cutlery in my example).

Also the pointy tip indicates a weapon and not cutlery. ;)

I just never saw the puny ones like mine as being anything other then a fancy fruit cutter, with its small hilt and thin blade it just does not feel very weaponish
:shrug: Of course it helps to have something to compare against.

Yours is smaller because was intended for a child. The size of the hilt should have tipped you off as it is way too small for an adult man's hand.

You don't put Koranic talismanic verses in gold on the blade of a butter knife! ;)

You don't put Koranic talismanic verses in gold on the blade of a butter knife!
Point well made.
Miguel