The Syrian Jambiya/Khanjar

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi Guys
I know that is an old post.
But I have one question, you date these daggers, for the oldest ones, from the 1920ties. If you look the Charles Buttin catalogue, you will see the same kind of dagger dated from the 19th c. My question is do you think that sometimes you underestimate the antiquity of some objects? It's a classic case with the experimented collectors or the good dealers, they don't want to surestimate the age of an object... Just the opposite of the young collectors and bad dealers who want to make some money.

Hi Kubur,
I think that what you suggest is probably quite true. It must be remembered that this type of weapon was not generally made in a factory, so that unlike (for example) English Firearms from known makers, where production information is usually readily available, ACTUAL manufacture dates of these, and other "ethnic" daggers and weapons can not generally be accurately verified. We have publications from early travellers in the region, and more modern publications, but I am sure that all of these probably contain some errors. In the end it comes down to the knowledge (or lack of it) of the individual to determine the age of an item.
The bottom line is LET THE BUYER BEWARE. I have before quoted this statement made to me years ago by a now long gone collector. He said to me that "If it does not look right, then it probably isn't". This has stood me in good stead over the years.
Stu