Robert Hales: Islamic Arms and Armour

ariel · 2nd November 2013, 03:42 PM

A VERY good portion of the items are Indo-Persian. Several presentation weapons with astonishing degree of richness. Big collection of very expensive Keris and their handles, an interesting description of a large group of carved Dha handles. Firearms and armour are not my area of interest, so I just omit them.

There is a group of Caucasian kindjals, but only a couple are "old" in Caucasian terms: first half of the 19th century. The rest are right on the "19/20" line, classical Daghestani artistic items. Several Chinese/Tibetan swords, a lot of Nimchas, a smattering of Arabs and Indonesians and some exotic stuff. The descriptions are brief and factual, also centered around the decorative aspects. Not much discussion of the origin, the dating is by and large a guess, the fighting aspects are glossed over.

The main emphasis is on richness: gold, gems, ivory, jade. And the level of decoration is mind-boggling: carving, kundun, niello, inlays... I think the smallest diamond was bigger than a walnut :-) Virtually all items are well outside my level of financial commitment.

Personally, I would like to see more blades, but Mr. Hales obviously was interested more in the decorative aspects of Oriental weapons. That's fine with me. In a way, this is an expanded and even more lavish analogue of the famous catalogue Splendor of the Oriental Weapons.

The book is very expensive, but its quality is unsurpassable. Not for nothing there is a separate "collector edition".

With all the points stated above, who needs it? And the answer is: the longer I have it, the more often I pull it from the shelf just to look at the beauty of old swords and daggers, to admire the craft, to sense the importance of weapons in different cultures whereby they served as almost religious artistic objects. They were the souls of men.

Do not buy this book if you expect to find a factual analysis of military machinery, evolution of fighting implements, easy guide for identification of different patterns or deep discussion of esoteric subjects.

This is a paean to what the weapon meant to the people who could afford to own the ideal of The Sword.

2nd November 2013, 03:42 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	A VERY good portion of the items are Indo-Persian. Several presentation weapons with astonishing degree of richness. Big collection of very expensive Keris and their handles, an interesting description of a large group of carved Dha handles. Firearms and armour are not my area of interest, so I just omit them. There is a group of Caucasian kindjals, but only a couple are "old" in Caucasian terms: first half of the 19th century. The rest are right on the "19/20" line, classical Daghestani artistic items. Several Chinese/Tibetan swords, a lot of Nimchas, a smattering of Arabs and Indonesians and some exotic stuff. The descriptions are brief and factual, also centered around the decorative aspects. Not much discussion of the origin, the dating is by and large a guess, the fighting aspects are glossed over. The main emphasis is on richness: gold, gems, ivory, jade. And the level of decoration is mind-boggling: carving, kundun, niello, inlays... I think the smallest diamond was bigger than a walnut :-) Virtually all items are well outside my level of financial commitment. Personally, I would like to see more blades, but Mr. Hales obviously was interested more in the decorative aspects of Oriental weapons. That's fine with me. In a way, this is an expanded and even more lavish analogue of the famous catalogue Splendor of the Oriental Weapons. The book is very expensive, but its quality is unsurpassable. Not for nothing there is a separate "collector edition". With all the points stated above, who needs it? And the answer is: the longer I have it, the more often I pull it from the shelf just to look at the beauty of old swords and daggers, to admire the craft, to sense the importance of weapons in different cultures whereby they served as almost religious artistic objects. They were the souls of men. Do not buy this book if you expect to find a factual analysis of military machinery, evolution of fighting implements, easy guide for identification of different patterns or deep discussion of esoteric subjects. This is a paean to what the weapon meant to the people who could afford to own the ideal of The Sword.