Balkan(?) kindjal

[ariel]

The seller took it off the market and allegedly has a $1,500 offer. Good deal (for him )!
This is not Russian, of course.
There are some Balkan experts around here and hopefully they will confirm my guess.
The handle is very "Bulgarian", but I've never seen a scabbard like that. Looks almost "Roman" to me.
The writing on the blade is in horrendously illiterate Russian, and the writer was not a native Russian speaker based on the misspellings, declinations and grammar.
One side: For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland
Another side: Long live Russia!
My guess it is a patriotic souvenir for a Russian officer during one of the many Balkan wars of the 19th century when the Russian armies liberated Bulgaria from the Ottomans. Although the condition leans more toward the 20th.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=009
Not outstanding, but quite interesting from the historical point of view.
Any opinions?

[TVV]

This is weird. I agree that whoever engraved the blade was illiterate and most probably copying from an original source, which he did not understand. The hilt and scabbard completely do not match. I am not sure if this is "Bulgarian" or from the Balkans at all - it may be, but I have never seen anything like it.

[ariel]

Teodor,
I look at your own post
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...balkan+kindjal
and there is quite a lot of "kindjals" with similar handles ( thinner, meatier, lighter, darker, but all of the same general pattern) that you ID-ed as Bulgarian.
Obviously, this one cannot be of Turkish or Syrian origin ( script).
Together, the handle and the inscription point quite strongly ( I think) towards the Balkans, Bulgaria being my first address.

[TVV]

Originally Posted by ariel

Teodor,
I look at your own post
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...balkan+kindjal
and there is quite a lot of "kindjals" with similar handles ( thinner, meatier, lighter, darker, but all of the same general pattern) that you ID-ed as Bulgarian.
Obviously, this one cannot be of Turkish or Syrian origin ( script).
Together, the handle and the inscription point quite strongly ( I think) towards the Balkans, Bulgaria being my first address.

Honestly I cannot find much similarity. The Bulgarian style, which developed long after the last Russian soldier left Bulgaria in the mid 1880s, is characterized by brass handles with a horn insert, completely encased by the brass, or scales of horn and only a brass guard, but none of these handles come near to the monstrosity of the hilt on this dagger, which allegedly sold for $ 1,500. The pommel for one thing is completely different - the traditional Bulgarian one aims at representing a stylized serpent head. The scabbard, as noted by both of us, also has little in common with what one expects to find on such daggers. Therefore, I remain unconvinced
That being said, it could have been made in the Balkans or even Bulgaria, but to me it falls within the category of "custom made", as it does not match any traditional style.

[spiral]

I am not involved in this field, but to me it looks like an old blade, with an American home workshop handle from 1950s or 60s or so in style, But truly better photos are needed.

Spiral