BOSNIAN SWORD

gp · 24th June 2022, 11:08 PM

Stumbled upon this nice piece and although out of my budget, still can admire its beauty and craftmanship

The double-edged blade with central ridge and slightly curved tip,
the silver hilt with repoussé decoration of cresent moon and star motifs with palmettes,
curved quillons and pommel with stylised animal head,
the tip of pommel with inset coral bead,
the associated sheath with pierced floral decoration with punched texture on gilt ground, rounded engraved chape,
reverse with engraved scrolling floral decoration with applied silver belt fitting
29½in. (74.8cm.) long (2)

A very similar sword is in the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no.42, p.78).
The blade here is of typical form, completely straight and symmetrical save for the very small curved section taken out at the tip.
The makara head terminals are also typical. The workmanship on the sheath is very comparable to that produced in Istanbul.
This is not surprising since there was a very strong tradition of silversmithing in Bosnia linked to the Ottoman capital in Istanbul; many of the silversmiths in 16th century Istanbul were of Bosnian origin
(Marian Wenzel, 'Early Ottoman Silver and Iznik Pottery Design', Apollo, September 1989, p.160).

Sold for slightly over 8 K GBP

source: Christies

24th June 2022, 11:08 PM	#1
gp Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 719	BOSNIAN SWORD Stumbled upon this nice piece and although out of my budget, still can admire its beauty and craftmanship The double-edged blade with central ridge and slightly curved tip, the silver hilt with repoussé decoration of cresent moon and star motifs with palmettes, curved quillons and pommel with stylised animal head, the tip of pommel with inset coral bead, the associated sheath with pierced floral decoration with punched texture on gilt ground, rounded engraved chape, reverse with engraved scrolling floral decoration with applied silver belt fitting 29½in. (74.8cm.) long (2) A very similar sword is in the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no.42, p.78). The blade here is of typical form, completely straight and symmetrical save for the very small curved section taken out at the tip. The makara head terminals are also typical. The workmanship on the sheath is very comparable to that produced in Istanbul. This is not surprising since there was a very strong tradition of silversmithing in Bosnia linked to the Ottoman capital in Istanbul; many of the silversmiths in 16th century Istanbul were of Bosnian origin (Marian Wenzel, 'Early Ottoman Silver and Iznik Pottery Design', Apollo, September 1989, p.160). Sold for slightly over 8 K GBP source: Christies Attached Images