A khandjar and a problem

[Michel]

Hi forumnites

I have forged , filed anf produced the below shown Khandjar and its sheath.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/michel.moreillon/Khanjar/628aa195.jpg

I know I am not up to the standard of the beautifull pieces shown here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/michel.moreillon/Khanjar/b5d49e6c.jpg

but I wish to improve and complete the sheath mouth and bottom end with the proper finish. My idea is to produce with a "repoussé" technic as the one below:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/michel.moreillon/Khanjar/Khanjarrepoussetmotif004.jpg
first the sheath mouth and then the bottom part.
To that end I have designed the below shown motif :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/michel.moreillon/Khanjar/Khanjarrepoussetmotif005.jpg

I do not think this drawing to be very good and as I am no artist but only a very modest craftsman, I cannot invent a fitting design for the repoussé work.

Now my questions :
Is the repoussé the best adapted technic for this work ? Battara may have the answer.
Has any of you a photo of a good decoration that I could copy ?
Thanks for all answers

Michel

[Federico]

I would hazard to guess that you will need to chase and repousse. Repousse to get portions to stand up, chase to get portions incised in...hmmm not sure if that makes much sense. But by all means I vote for chase and repousse.

PS. wonderful work by the way so far, look forward to seeing the finished piece. :)

[Battara]

HI Michel. Nice design. You are right that the repousee is the way to go. Federico is right in that chasing is part of that process. What you will need is thinner gauge silver sheet, the right chasing and repousee punches (and tools) and a little experience or experimentation. I would be easy to punch through the metal:(. You can try it yourself but practice first with copper sheet for a while until you get the techniques down (along with books on the subject), or.......you can send it to me. :D (shameless, I know). Looks like the next thing to work on is the bottom chape. There are other considerations too, like the patination of the silver, the soldering of the silver, the fitting of the cloth, etc, etc...a long process.

One other note, you may want to consult the book "The Treasury of the World" that has lots of expensive Mughal khanjar chape designs from the museum in Kuwait. Wonderful resource.

[Michel]

Thanks a lot to both Battara and Frederico.
I know I have still a long way to go outside of the training itself.
I have now produced my repoussé tools and have been to Istanbul to find the right pitch on which to set the copper, respectively silver sheet. I still have to produce my hammer before starting the repousse and chasing work.
I hope I can find the "The Treasury of the World" as I will certainly need model to design and make the bottom part of the sheath.
As you can think, Battara, most of the pleasure is in learning a new craft, with some good advices as you give, I therefor will not send it to your attention !!
Thanks

Michel

[Battara]

Good luck to you. Please show us your work when it is done.