strange shamshir for comment and advice on restoration

GePi · 19th July 2016, 04:45 PM

Hello all,
I recently impulse-bought this shamshir on Ebay for probably too much money, and now I don't quite know what to make of it.

The seller classified it as Afghan, due to the thick blade, multi-fullering and the punched out circles at the forte, some of which have residual inlays of yellow metal. The blade shows a stripey wootz pattern in some areas. At the base of the spine there seems to be a repaired delamination crack.

Now the hilt is where it gets weird.

The handguard is glued solidly to the tang without any movement. On one side the guard seems to have been repaired. I think the guard is actually made of a very fine grained crystalline wootz, but I don't know if that comes out in the photos.

There are 2 handle scales on each side, the upper ones look like walrus ivory I think. The lower ones are not symmetrical. One could be black horn I think, the other rather looks like wood and has a wide crack filled with adhesive, which covers the upper languet (?).

I knew that the handle scales and pommel cap were loose, when I bid on the sword, planning to have it professionally restored. What I didn't realize is that more than half of the tangband is broken off, and the handle scales are not
glued to the tang at all, so you can actually look inside the hilt.

It seems the tang was broken off at one point and a thinner tang was welded laterally to the original one. This secondary tang is bent to one side, so that one of the handle scales sticks out at an angle, the lower rivet on this scale is of course cut off, the lower rivet on the other side is lost.
The last strange thing is that the welded on tang is actually too long, because the pommel cap, which is riveted to it, doesn't actually cover the upper part of the handle scales at all.

So I'm at a loss as to what I actually have before me now. Some hack repair attempt gone awry? A composite? The way it is barely holding together now, even with the second tang unbent, would still not be a functional assembly as I see it.

Secondly is there any hope of fixing this, and if so, can you recommend an experienced restorer, whom I could approach for this task?

I eagerly await any insights and advice you can offer

Kind regards

Gernot

19th July 2016, 04:45 PM	#1
GePi Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Germany Posts: 95	strange shamshir for comment and advice on restoration Hello all, I recently impulse-bought this shamshir on Ebay for probably too much money, and now I don't quite know what to make of it. The seller classified it as Afghan, due to the thick blade, multi-fullering and the punched out circles at the forte, some of which have residual inlays of yellow metal. The blade shows a stripey wootz pattern in some areas. At the base of the spine there seems to be a repaired delamination crack. Now the hilt is where it gets weird. The handguard is glued solidly to the tang without any movement. On one side the guard seems to have been repaired. I think the guard is actually made of a very fine grained crystalline wootz, but I don't know if that comes out in the photos. There are 2 handle scales on each side, the upper ones look like walrus ivory I think. The lower ones are not symmetrical. One could be black horn I think, the other rather looks like wood and has a wide crack filled with adhesive, which covers the upper languet (?). I knew that the handle scales and pommel cap were loose, when I bid on the sword, planning to have it professionally restored. What I didn't realize is that more than half of the tangband is broken off, and the handle scales are not glued to the tang at all, so you can actually look inside the hilt. It seems the tang was broken off at one point and a thinner tang was welded laterally to the original one. This secondary tang is bent to one side, so that one of the handle scales sticks out at an angle, the lower rivet on this scale is of course cut off, the lower rivet on the other side is lost. The last strange thing is that the welded on tang is actually too long, because the pommel cap, which is riveted to it, doesn't actually cover the upper part of the handle scales at all. So I'm at a loss as to what I actually have before me now. Some hack repair attempt gone awry? A composite? The way it is barely holding together now, even with the second tang unbent, would still not be a functional assembly as I see it. Secondly is there any hope of fixing this, and if so, can you recommend an experienced restorer, whom I could approach for this task? I eagerly await any insights and advice you can offer Kind regards Gernot Attached Images