Twisted mind

Nihl · 15th June 2019, 10:36 PM

Kubur,

Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to win this sword, I simply saved the pictures from the website. Because of this, though I can't say for certain, I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

In regards to classifying this piece, I would simply say it's of an atypical/idiosyncratic form. I can't say I've seen any sabers that just happened to be laz-hilted, only sabers produced by the laz with the laz hilt. As I see it this example is no exception. Though I am by no means truly knowledgeable of caucasian sword production, to me the fullers and overall shape of the blade still point it to be of laz origin. The fullers are (relatively) thin and grouped tightly together, and are distributed in clusters along the blade. Though I think 3 sets of fullers are more common, I happen to own a shorter laz bichaq that also only has two sets of fullers. I'm pretty sure the number of fullers in each set varies blade-to-blade though. Looking at the forte of the blade points to a laz origin as well. While the "finger stopping" projection could be carved out of any old blade, the forte itself is notably of the standard smooth, cylindrical laz bichaq form, existing as a built in transition between the blade and the hilt. It's probably more proper to call that part the ricasso, but either way it exists in the general forte area past the hilt, and is of the same style as every other laz bichaq blade. Overall, in my opinion, though there may be outliers from time to time, the laz bichaq exists as a solid type of sword, and not a general form. Of course if there are notable examples of odd combinations of hilts or blades, then feel free to post them and I'll totally eat my words, but as I see it a laz bichaq almost always has a horned hilt and a "dramatic" recurved blade.

On the other hand maybe the blade production for this specific sword was outsourced to some non-laz, who made a generic saber blade, and then sent it back to laz land where it was given the standard hilt.

Also, not to distract, but just a quick question that I've always had - has this forum ever come to a conclusion as to the "origin" of the laz bichaq form? I remember the possibility of it coming from the khopesh was briefly discussed, but beyond that I haven't heard anything. IMO it just seems like the laz combined a saber and a yatagan and called it a day, i.e. extended the tip of the yatagan to make it more slashy (maybe they preferred sabers). BUT I'd very much like to know what the collective "expert" opinion is.

15th June 2019, 10:36 PM	#12
Nihl Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 90	Kubur, Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to win this sword, I simply saved the pictures from the website. Because of this, though I can't say for certain, I'm pretty sure the answer is no. In regards to classifying this piece, I would simply say it's of an atypical/idiosyncratic form. I can't say I've seen any sabers that just happened to be laz-hilted, only sabers produced by the laz with the laz hilt. As I see it this example is no exception. Though I am by no means truly knowledgeable of caucasian sword production, to me the fullers and overall shape of the blade still point it to be of laz origin. The fullers are (relatively) thin and grouped tightly together, and are distributed in clusters along the blade. Though I think 3 sets of fullers are more common, I happen to own a shorter laz bichaq that also only has two sets of fullers. I'm pretty sure the number of fullers in each set varies blade-to-blade though. Looking at the forte of the blade points to a laz origin as well. While the "finger stopping" projection could be carved out of any old blade, the forte itself is notably of the standard smooth, cylindrical laz bichaq form, existing as a built in transition between the blade and the hilt. It's probably more proper to call that part the ricasso, but either way it exists in the general forte area past the hilt, and is of the same style as every other laz bichaq blade. Overall, in my opinion, though there may be outliers from time to time, the laz bichaq exists as a solid type of sword, and not a general form. Of course if there are notable examples of odd combinations of hilts or blades, then feel free to post them and I'll totally eat my words, but as I see it a laz bichaq almost always has a horned hilt and a "dramatic" recurved blade. On the other hand maybe the blade production for this specific sword was outsourced to some non-laz, who made a generic saber blade, and then sent it back to laz land where it was given the standard hilt. Also, not to distract, but just a quick question that I've always had - has this forum ever come to a conclusion as to the "origin" of the laz bichaq form? I remember the possibility of it coming from the khopesh was briefly discussed, but beyond that I haven't heard anything. IMO it just seems like the laz combined a saber and a yatagan and called it a day, i.e. extended the tip of the yatagan to make it more slashy (maybe they preferred sabers). BUT I'd very much like to know what the collective "expert" opinion is. Attached Images