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23rd October 2022, 05:23 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,079
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A very basic and bashed Saif.
Got this one yesterday in a private sale and I am quite happy with it for the price paid. Comments on origin welcome. I have issues with the grip scales which were described as "cork" and that seems to be just what they are... I think they were banged on to make it saleable, the originals being absent, shattered or of a CITES controlled material.
There is no doubt but that it has had a hard life, but no harder than many pieces made for use in my experience. |
23rd October 2022, 05:39 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 1,340
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While silverwire is quite common on Arab swords, it is not specifically an Arab only feature. Your sword could have been used in a wide area, but I lean towards a more simple Turkish production.
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25th October 2022, 10:47 AM | #3 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,079
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I have no problems with a Turkish origin. What does concern me is the grip material, it does look and feel like cork which I do not see as being original. Another factor are the rivet washers or rovings which are not typical. I am not in a rush, but unless I find some reference to cork as a period grip scale material I will remove and replace them..... Horn or hardwood seems more suitable to me.
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25th October 2022, 12:48 PM | #4 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 1,340
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Quote:
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26th October 2022, 10:12 AM | #5 | |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,079
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Quote:
This was done 20 years ago, and I would go about it differently now, more cautiously and better researched. |
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22nd July 2023, 10:41 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,079
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so I scratched the itch and began work.
The hilt was so rotten that it pulled apart with my bare fingers. I am pretty confident that the hilt was a quick and dirty fix for a sale, and probably not in the land of origin. The wire was in pieces, as was the brass strip profile round the grip (is there a term for this) not from damage, but applied in pieces. The Cork was rotten and crumbled. The hilt profile was "soldered" in a lumpy fashion, and was in places more like cement or "cold solder" or resin than metal. Finally stripped down, and the flat full tang is in places paper thin, so I wonder if it was ever meant to have the brass "profile strip" wrapped round it.
And now the photo's, which may or may not be in order! |
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