Persian Jambia - My Latest treasure

sabertasche · 7th January 2007, 01:39 AM

Hi all, Merry Ukranian Christmas! I thought I'd share my recent present to my self. I think it's a Persian Jambia. This beauty came with an impossible story.

The seller said that this blade was a gift from the family of Lawrence of Arabia to the person to picked the motercycle off the injured body of Lawrence after hew crashed it! I bought it based on the merits of the dagger rather than the absurd story

Anyway, this is a real beauty, all the metal mounts and blade are damascus. The scabbard covering appears to be original to the piece. I was hoping someone could read the the caligraphy and perhap shed some light as to the age etc.

I've included a scan of the pommel as well. Is this a heraldic symbol? Is there such a thing as Islamic heraldry? Perhaps a subject for later

Enjoy,

Greg

sabertasche · 7th January 2007, 01:46 AM

Here's a better scan of the ricasso.

Greg

Aurangzeb · 7th January 2007, 01:55 AM

Hello Greg!

Merry Ukrainian Christmas to you too! Very nice jambiya, I like Persian jambiyas and almost got one for Chiristmas but it was shoplifted the day before I was too pick it up from the store!

The workmanship on yours is beautiful. I would not buy that story, If all the Jambiyas and Saif I saw attributed to old T.E. Lawrence were his then he must have travelled around with a arsenal bigger than some small countries!

The hunting scene on the pommel is a very common desigen feature on Indo-Persian weapons.

Mark...

Tim Simmons · 7th January 2007, 10:14 AM

A fantastic story! I think it is amazing the stories some people make up for provenance. It is so funny and inventive. Do they really think you will fall for it? Provenance has never been of interest to me. An object is what it is good or bad even if is once belonged to the Queen except for rare regalia and such like.

RSWORD · 8th January 2007, 12:04 AM

A lovely dagger! The pommel decoration is not heraldic but rather stylistic if you will. Tigers and Lions pouncing on antelope and the such is a decorative style not uncommon throughout India and the Middle East. In the one picture I can just make out the nice wootz pattern. I would look closely at the handle and the scabbard mounts as I suspect they might be wootz as well. If that is the case, truly a fantastic dagger perhaps worthy of such an illustrious tale.

sabertasche · 8th January 2007, 06:24 AM

Hi all, you are right RSword, all the mounts are wootz as is the blade. Once I get the translation done I'll look to getting a gentle cleaning. There is lots of posts re etching etc. I'm not sure if I want something so drastic. My plan is to keep this dagger as it goes well with some great Persian armour I have. The wife has spoken though - if I keep this then something else has to go. Anyone looking for a slightly used wife?

Greg

7th January 2007, 01:39 AM	#1
sabertasche Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 149	Persian Jambia - My Latest treasure Hi all, Merry Ukranian Christmas! I thought I'd share my recent present to my self. I think it's a Persian Jambia. This beauty came with an impossible story. The seller said that this blade was a gift from the family of Lawrence of Arabia to the person to picked the motercycle off the injured body of Lawrence after hew crashed it! I bought it based on the merits of the dagger rather than the absurd story Anyway, this is a real beauty, all the metal mounts and blade are damascus. The scabbard covering appears to be original to the piece. I was hoping someone could read the the caligraphy and perhap shed some light as to the age etc. I've included a scan of the pommel as well. Is this a heraldic symbol? Is there such a thing as Islamic heraldry? Perhaps a subject for later Enjoy, Greg Attached Images

7th January 2007, 01:46 AM	#2
sabertasche Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 149	Here's a better scan of the ricasso. Greg Attached Images

8th January 2007, 06:24 AM	#6
sabertasche Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 149	Translation Needed Hi all, you are right RSword, all the mounts are wootz as is the blade. Once I get the translation done I'll look to getting a gentle cleaning. There is lots of posts re etching etc. I'm not sure if I want something so drastic. My plan is to keep this dagger as it goes well with some great Persian armour I have. The wife has spoken though - if I keep this then something else has to go. Anyone looking for a slightly used wife? Greg

7th January 2007, 01:55 AM	#3
Aurangzeb Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 306	Hello Greg! Merry Ukrainian Christmas to you too! Very nice jambiya, I like Persian jambiyas and almost got one for Chiristmas but it was shoplifted the day before I was too pick it up from the store! The workmanship on yours is beautiful. I would not buy that story, If all the Jambiyas and Saif I saw attributed to old T.E. Lawrence were his then he must have travelled around with a arsenal bigger than some small countries! The hunting scene on the pommel is a very common desigen feature on Indo-Persian weapons. Mark...

7th January 2007, 10:14 AM	#4
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,807	A fantastic story! I think it is amazing the stories some people make up for provenance. It is so funny and inventive. Do they really think you will fall for it? Provenance has never been of interest to me. An object is what it is good or bad even if is once belonged to the Queen except for rare regalia and such like.

8th January 2007, 12:04 AM	#5
RSWORD Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,083	A lovely dagger! The pommel decoration is not heraldic but rather stylistic if you will. Tigers and Lions pouncing on antelope and the such is a decorative style not uncommon throughout India and the Middle East. In the one picture I can just make out the nice wootz pattern. I would look closely at the handle and the scabbard mounts as I suspect they might be wootz as well. If that is the case, truly a fantastic dagger perhaps worthy of such an illustrious tale.