new old tulwar hilt

[kronckew]

bought this on a whim. was listed as an old sword hilt, indian seller, from jodhpur in rajasthan.

i assumed it was a modern repro. the decoration appeared crisp and unworn.

package arrived yesterday. hilt was wrapped in bubble wrap, placed inside an old indian gas-mantle tin, which was then wrapped in more bubble wrap, and then sewn into a muslin cover which was then sealed with sealing wax.

anyhow on looking at it , it was apparent it was a tad older than expected. a bit of wear & tear, but the main surprise was that there was a resin filling inside, with a tang shaped hole in it. the brass looks like there was a sword prised out of it. the resin was old, hard and a bit crumbly, but was a reddish translucent material. there was also some pitch based hard resin in spots inside. i heated it in hot water to remove the tarry gunk bits which softened. the tarry gunk that had filled the tigers mouth, ears, and the (rabbit?) prey's legs was pricked out. it now looks a lot better.

[Stan S.]

Thats a real nice hilt. I have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that despite it's appearance, the hilt is not old. The good news is that these hilts are being made mostly for the tourist trade but using the same technologies left over from 100+ years ago. These technologies include everything being done by hand (hence are the various small inperfections and blemishes) in an an earthern forge, using original molds and tools. The primary difference is a material - back in the days tulwar hilts were almost always made of iron or steel. However most of the ones made after 1920s are often brass or brass based alloys. With this being said, this hilt should be as good as any of the old ones and it is quite attractive. I hope you can find a nice blade to mount it on.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Wayne,
The hilt looks nice but the drawing is great . I still miss my beautiful YN-DBQ I'm sure you miss yours as well.
Kind Regards,
Norman.

[kronckew]

thanks for the info, stan. i've got a tulwar blade lined up for it. once i get the resin to join the two, i'll post the result. the vendor had two more similar ones. one did not have the overall flora, was just plain brass with a few rings around the ends and middle of the grip, the other had a different pattern of leaves all over, but the deer looked like it had scales (it's a deer not a rabbit ) mine looks like it had a decorative saddle blanket on it.

norm, yes i miss Blue a lot. he and a few more are waiting for me on the other side of the bridge. the pack will be completed eventually.

p.s. my Millie is related to greyhound YN-DBQ, 'Quickfire Sally' with a couple of common ancestors.

this is the avatar i use elsewhere:

[Norman McCormick]

Originally Posted by kronckew

he and a few more are waiting for me on the other side of the bridge. :

Me too, five down but I've still got this little devil, and I mean DEVIL, to keep me going, wouldn't have it any other way.
Kind Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Yep love the avatar.

[kronckew]

nice terrierist. looks intelligent bet he/she is a handful.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Wayne,
A Norfolk terrierist with at least a sixth, seventh and eighth sense and a memory like an elephant. The breed also has a nickname "perfect demon" and not without good cause. , still wouldn't part with him, Otto, for all the tea in China.
Kind Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Cool that Millie is related to Sally, am sure they could have had great fun together. BTW I named her Sally before I knew her racing name, coincidence ???

[David R]

You do actualy get old brass tulwar hilts, not as common as iron, but they do turn up. As far as I know generaly they are Southern Indian, rather than Northern, and I believe they sometimes they turn up on "issue" tulwars formally in British Imperial service.
I saw a reference to the Southern ones in a book in the Royal Armouries Library, and I have seen brass Tulwar hilts on some definately old swords with good blades, in regimental style sheathes, ie with matching lockets and chapes.

[Stan S.]

Originally Posted by David R

You do actualy get old brass tulwar hilts, not as common as iron, but they do turn up. As far as I know generaly they are Southern Indian, rather than Northern, and I believe they sometimes they turn up on "issue" tulwars formally in British Imperial service.
I saw a reference to the Southern ones in a book in the Royal Armouries Library, and I have seen brass Tulwar hilts on some definately old swords with good blades, in regimental style sheathes, ie with matching lockets and chapes.

David,

With a few rare exceptions, all brass hilts are early 20th century or later. if you ever look at any of the traditionally shaped brass hilts (the one with disk pommel), you will notice that a little skull crusher spike on top is actually square in cross section, whch is an indication of being machine cut. This is not so easy to tell on this one, and as I said before, it is a very nice hilt, it is just not as old as it may look. I bet the Jodhpur seller had a few other hilts for sale all in various state of being "used"

Lets understand that because of technologies and methods applied to produce these, it really doesn't matter all that much if they were made 100 years ago or last week - they are still very cool and matched with a good old blade will only increase in value

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Stan S.

The primary difference is a material - back in the days tulwar hilts were almost always made of iron or steel. However most of the ones made after 1920s are often brass or brass based alloys. .

Interesting observation Stan, these has also been my expierience with the use of brass instead of steel Indian or Nepelese kukri. {Interestingly not the admitadly very rare Afghani made military ones though.}

Spiral