Great Qama

Interested Party · 30th June 2020, 03:38 PM

I don't think anyone is questioning Persian influence. Just in the current belief system Tiflis seems a reasonable attribution. I would love to see a book on Persian and Turkish blades of this type. Possibly world view and scholarship related to Persian Qamas would have been different if the 1979 revolution had not prevented the exchange of ideas in the region. Hopefully 30 years from now everyone will play nice and scholarship with flow across borders again.

The blade geometries are very different on these linked examples. Yours is what I had associated with earlier blades and a different technique of use. They are all gorgeous and I would be honored to own any of them. I liked the pomegranate on the sheath of the 2nd linked example, but I believe the sheaths don't help you argument. The style of the pomegranate I thought was associated with later Russian influence on the genre. The first linked sheath seems very solidly in the Kubatji/Dagestani tradition from the late nineteenth century. The second example's blade if I remember correctly had traces of duckheads on the koft a very Tiflis touch. All that said blades moved around the region, sometimes waiting many years to be mounted or were mounted successively for different owners. Often works were an amalgamation of several craftsmen often from different regions and traditions or people working outside their cultural traditions. So really the sky is the limit concerning the truth of production and the critic imposes their own bias upon what they see.... The knife being made for an Iranian, expat or otherwise, is as likely as anything else. Thankyou again for showing your collection and giving me the chance to play this game of attribution.

Attached are two plates from Rivkin's Caucasian Arms. That to me seem to be a similar style. though honestly I like yours better. Personal taste.

BTW did anyone else notice the first auction house had the blade backwards in its sheath. One of my pet peeves. It makes things sloppy and leads to dull blades.

30th June 2020, 03:38 PM	#17
Interested Party Member Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Eastern Sierra Posts: 497	I don't think anyone is questioning Persian influence. Just in the current belief system Tiflis seems a reasonable attribution. I would love to see a book on Persian and Turkish blades of this type. Possibly world view and scholarship related to Persian Qamas would have been different if the 1979 revolution had not prevented the exchange of ideas in the region. Hopefully 30 years from now everyone will play nice and scholarship with flow across borders again. The blade geometries are very different on these linked examples. Yours is what I had associated with earlier blades and a different technique of use. They are all gorgeous and I would be honored to own any of them. I liked the pomegranate on the sheath of the 2nd linked example, but I believe the sheaths don't help you argument. The style of the pomegranate I thought was associated with later Russian influence on the genre. The first linked sheath seems very solidly in the Kubatji/Dagestani tradition from the late nineteenth century. The second example's blade if I remember correctly had traces of duckheads on the koft a very Tiflis touch. All that said blades moved around the region, sometimes waiting many years to be mounted or were mounted successively for different owners. Often works were an amalgamation of several craftsmen often from different regions and traditions or people working outside their cultural traditions. So really the sky is the limit concerning the truth of production and the critic imposes their own bias upon what they see.... The knife being made for an Iranian, expat or otherwise, is as likely as anything else. Thankyou again for showing your collection and giving me the chance to play this game of attribution. Attached are two plates from Rivkin's Caucasian Arms. That to me seem to be a similar style. though honestly I like yours better. Personal taste. BTW did anyone else notice the first auction house had the blade backwards in its sheath. One of my pet peeves. It makes things sloppy and leads to dull blades. Attached Images Last edited by Interested Party; 30th June 2020 at 03:54 PM.