Curious marriage: a Kard

[ariel]

There were famous Bakhmud and Abdalla Tubchiev brothers who went to Central Asian khanates ( Bukhara, I vaguely remember) at the end of 19 century. They worked there as jewelers. In Central Asia they learned enameling techniques and brought it back to the Caucasus. In exchange they taught the locals Caucasian silverwork and niello.
They also worked for several years in Istanbul.
Both died when the Caucasus became “ Soviet” and all those years they made enameled scabbards and handles for the local and “ Moscow” bonzas. Thus, this kindjal is very, very highly likely can be dated to the beginning of the 20th century or even later.

It is almost always the itinerant masters who introduce new techniques, decoration motives, materials etc.

Just like Persian bladesmiths at the Moghul court who taught their Indian colleagues how to forge fancy wootz patterns instead of the customary “salt and pepper” one.

[ariel]

I have a strange feeling about it.
The face is peculiar, Central Asia was and still is Islamic. Even drawings of human faces are frown upon, but this is a 3-dimensional sculpture. Usually ( Hungarian, Philippine, Mughal etc) face is turned toward the edge. Here it faces the spine. There is a rivet through golden koft decorations.
And why on Earth would anybody put a fragment of European regulation blade into a Caucasian / Turkish kard scabbard?

I usually try to find positive things to say. Here I find one strange feature after another.

Could it be a composition of unrelated parts?

[Gonzoadler]

Hello,
I think it is a regional work. Central Asia sounds likely to me, as some members confirmed. But that is a debatable point, because it looks like a marriage/composition. I'm agree with that, ariel. But all parts except the blade are of a central asian or maybe caucasian origin (in my opinion) and I don't think it was made in the western world. Daggers from Central Asia were shown, which are made of recycled parts, too. This and some Bichaks with similar scabbards are arguments for this region.
What is your guess were and why it was made?
In every case it wasn't made recently to deceive anyone. The seller was no collector and the price was (very) moderate

Regards
Robin

[ariel]

It depends on your definition of “ deceive”.
Somebody might have made ( or ordered) it for private use as a hunting knife .
Then it went from hands to hands and the original story was forgotten.
Advertising this knife as Central Asian to get more money would be a deceit.
Selling it as a curiosity or relying on the description by the previous “deceiver” would be just ignorance.
There is nothing Central Asian here. Showing examples of other daggers of unknown provenance does not help: this is a usable knife composed of unrelated parts by somebody who was just attributionally ignorant or just didn’ t give a dam ( sic!) about authenticity. Walking stick handle is a good possibility, especially with cheap round glass “stones” on the top.
But, in the immortal words of “ Forged in Fire” , “ It will ke-e- ell” :-)

[mahratt]

I agree with ariel. My opinion is that the item is assembled from three parts (quite possibly a long time ago). The scabbard is undoubtedly made in Central Asia. The hilt and blade have nothing to do with Central Asia. I think аriel is right in suggesting that the handle could be part of the cane.
It would be ideal to match this very good sheath with an old Central Asian pichak knife.

[Gonzoadler]

Hello,

I'm also largely agree with your comments. Of course we can't clarify every detail of the history of my dagger but ariel constructed a plausible version. The hilt looks still caucasian to me because of the papakha.
Yes, the scabbard would be a very good replacement part for a central asian Bichak, but I dont have any

[Saracen]

For me, this is an absolutely Ottoman scabbard made by a master from Dagestan. After the annexation of the territories of the North Caucasus to the Russian Empire in 1865 and before the start of the First World War, the Islamic population of the North Caucasus actively migrated to the Ottoman Empire. This migration was much more massive and prolonged than the migration to Central Asia and received the name "Caucasian muhajirism".
The narrow form of the scabbard and, especially, the absolutely Ottoman form of the end of the scabbard tell me that the Ottoman bichaq lived in them, and not the Central Asian pchak.