My Flyssa Daggers

[David R]

Hiya guys, this conversation and particulary Doms contribution has piqued my interest, so I have a question. I saw these 2 and dismissed them as 20thC tourist pieces, but now I wonder? They are not in an auction so I think they are ok to post.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by David R

Hiya guys, this conversation and particulary Doms contribution has piqued my interest, so I have a question. I saw these 2 and dismissed them as 20thC tourist pieces, but now I wonder? They are not in an auction so I think they are ok to post.

how thick are the blades? that seems to be the main difference. the tourist 'wedding nimcha' ones, which apparently started late 19th c. tend to have thin flat blades (2mm-ish) and are more sharply curved than earlier ones with 4mm distal tapered blades (like mine above) and the engraving/inlays/scabbard carvings are not in traditional kabyle patterns. (see earlier post by emmanuel)

[Emanuel]

Originally Posted by David R

Hiya guys, this conversation and particulary Doms contribution has piqued my interest, so I have a question. I saw these 2 and dismissed them as 20thC tourist pieces, but now I wonder? They are not in an auction so I think they are ok to post.

Hi David,

I owned an identical "wedding nimcha" a few years ago. Like Kroncke says, the blades are uniformly flat, cut from ~2mm sheet, not forged, and the scabbard wire inlay is poor compared to the old carving. I had therefore also assumed they were early 20th century pieces. I'm happy to accept evidence that they're earlier. How they came about and who made them I don't know. Since they are all of a near-identical type I assume a common provenance.

Emanuel