Nice silver yemeni jambiya sheath

[PeterP]

A nice flea market find. A beautiful silver Yemeni filigree thuma jambiya sheath. Alas without the pointy bits, but nice enough to show it. It's marked on the back, and as an added bonus provided with a silver inner plaque to give depth and background to the filigree work. It used to be gilded, some of which is still visibl but mostly worn off.
As I understood this was exclusively work of jewish silver smiths, and because of the mark to be dated before about 1920 when it was forbidden to mark silver work.
I have a question about the mark. In the Walters Art Museum collection they have several silver sheaths which are marked. The jewish makers marked their names in Hebrew and the dates are marked in Arabic script. As this mark is Arabic, is this a then date mark? Or did the jewish makers also used Arabic script to mark their work?
Any comments, thoughts and insights are welcome

[TVV]

That chape is indeed beautiful, a work of art in and of itself. I believe sometimes the marks on the back were also used to show the silver content, but still chances are the one on yours is the maker's mark.

[Pertinax]

Hello PeterP

I have no information about the mark. I know that Jewish jewelers worked in Yemen until 1949, after which they moved to Israel.

I also have a silver jambiya scabbard made by Jewish Yemeni craftsmen from the early 20th century, the filigree was made using a different technique. Unfortunately, the jambia itself is younger and matched to this sheath, presumably from the mid-20th century

Regards, Yuri

[fernando]

Originally Posted by PeterP

... As I understood this was exclusively work of jewish silver smiths ... The jewish makers marked their names in Hebrew and the dates are marked in Arabic script. As this mark is Arabic, is this a then date mark? Or did the jewish makers also used Arabic script to mark their work?...

I have gathered a story when i searched about one example i once had. The only name in Arabic on the pommel is definitely that of the owner. The tiny script underneath the hilt base would be in 'Temani', the Yemenite hebrew, belonging to the maker's mark. I was not surprised to see this mark in such a discreet place, thinking that Hebrews had to keep a low profile among the locals. I heard that they were not even allowed to make blades.


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