Wolfy Nimcha

[kronckew]

well, finally got my moroccan (?) nimcha/saif. billed as 19c.
grip has a bit of insect damage & scabbard needs some tlc.

single edged spear point blade has what appears to be a running wolf on the right side. locally added, or could it be a german trade blade? blade does look 19c to me.

overall length in scabbard is 42 in.

comments appreciated. thanks in advance.

[Kubur]

Hi,
Just my opinion: I think you are a lucky guy with a rhino hilt, yes, 19th c blade and a good scabbard with metallic wires (far above the standard quality). For me, there is no doubt you are in the mid-19th c. may be a little bit earlier...
Best,
Kubur

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi,
Just my opinion: I think you are a lucky guy with a rhino hilt, yes, 19th c blade and a good scabbard with metallic wires (far above the standard quality). For me, there is no doubt you are in the mid-19th c. may be a little bit earlier...
Best,
Kubur

I forgot, I can't see any wolf, just an Arabic word and a number...

[kronckew]

looked like a dog/wolf running towards the point, curved back & head at front with front leg bent at elbow & rear bent at knee. (red below)

it didn't make any sense to me as arabic right side up (spine at top), upside down it looks a bit more arabic but i didn't see any characters that looked like the initial looped one tho the initial looped character looks like it might be but the loop looks wrong. see chart below. arabic is read right to left, initial, median and terminating forms of the same character are different. numbers are read like ours, left to right. it could be bad 'penmanship' or a local variant tho. the three 'numbers' don't make sense, with the dot representing zero, the remaining two only one looks like a number either way up. maybe one of our arabic speakers will see and comment.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Kubur

a good scabbard with metallic wires (far above the standard quality).

Kuber, it looks to me like the scabbard is stitched with thread???

[kronckew]

i think it looks like thread. will know when it arrives from the states...hopefully before xmas.

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Kuber, it looks to me like the scabbard is stitched with thread???

Misery you are right!
In fact i never saw any nimcha scabbard with metallic wire.

For the Arabic, there is no doubt.

For your wolf, if i follow your drawing, it could be a platypus, nice and kind animal...

[kronckew]

platypus are poisonous! the only poisonous mammal. the males have spurs that will inject the poison. not very cuddly.

the upside down 'arabic' ?

( i admit it's resemblance to a wolf is stretching it a bit tho the real wolf of passau marks resemblance to a wolf is not that great either.)

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Misery you are right!
In fact i never saw any nimcha scabbard with metallic wire.

For the Arabic, there is no doubt.

For your wolf, if i follow your drawing, it could be a platypus, nice and kind animal...

A North African Platypus????....I don't think so!. They are found ONLY in Australia!.

[kronckew]

maybe it was adopted.