Hi Gene,
The forging of the blade is a deliberate process to get this kind of result but the pattern produced is somewhat random. In this case, I don't think the pattern produced is meant to symbolize anything but rather what is produced illicits comparisons to flowing water, or sometimes woodgrain so these are more in the describing of what is being seen in the blade. Kind of like which came first, the chicken or the egg. I think the pattern came first, and from that the descriptions of what was being seen. The only pattern that is "created" and not strictly the result of the forging process is the ladder pattern. This is a mechanically created pattern. The wootz ingot is manipulated during the forging process in a way that produces the pattern. It is an artificial ladder over the random pattern the wootz process creates. The variety of patterns that one can find is interesting and many classifications of these patterns have been proposed over the years. There are certain patterns, that due to their level of activity, color and clarity that can be associated with a certain region. Your blade, for example, has the color and consistency in pattern as well as overall activity(swirls, meandering lines, waves, etc.) that is most often associated with Persian manufacture. There are certain patterns which can be associated with India and certain patterns that can be associated with Turkey/Syria. If interested in the study of wootz and the various patterns and classifications, there are some good books I would be happy to recommend.
|