View Full Version : Yatagan
David R
14th February 2012, 12:20 AM
A piece from my collection, bought off the bargain pile at a dealers. The black horn hilt scales are replacements made by me, in a style I remembered from a previous piece I owned...the originals were long gone and painted plaster used to substitute.
Any comments on possible origin, and hopefully a translation of the inscription are invited and welcomed. The engraving is much cruder than the workmanship of the sword, so I guess done some time later.
Dom
14th February 2012, 05:23 PM
A piece from my collection, bought off the bargain pile at a dealers. The black horn hilt scales are replacements made by me, in a style I remembered from a previous piece I owned...the originals were long gone and painted plaster used to substitute.
Any comments on possible origin, and hopefully a translation of the inscription are invited and welcomed. The engraving is much cruder than the workmanship of the sword, so I guess done some time later.Hi Dav
congratulations ... nice yatagan, very good reconstitution for the hilt
if only i could know from where I could get the corals ... ;)
the quality of the engraving, will not help for a translation
any way, it's not a job for me, surely it's wrote in Turkish
except for Arabic writing, I'm useless ... sorry :shrug:
ŕ +
Dom
David R
14th February 2012, 05:57 PM
Hi Dom, the corals on this piece are original to it, with one missing. I went hunting up coral for a replacement and a business down the road sells coral cabachons in a variety of sizes, but alas not the rich red of these, only a pale pink colour.
I think I was lucky with this one as well, I think the botched grips it had caused others to overlook it.
David R
25th February 2012, 12:17 AM
Any Balkan, Turkish, fans out there?
AJ1356
25th February 2012, 03:31 AM
The inscription is hard to read but it is a common one on many Islamic swords. It basically reads, No man like Ali not sword like Zulfiqaar.
David R
25th February 2012, 10:24 AM
I expected, hoped for, a standard motto or slogan. The engraving is so crudely done I think anything original would be incomprehensable. Pity really in a way, as the sword itself is nicely made.
SERGIU
28th February 2012, 06:26 PM
you made the horn hilt scales ? great job, sir .
did you heat the horns in fire? ottoman and balkan makers had a specific technique to give form to the eared grips, with fire and special tools, I watched turkish tv ,a show named Ellerin Turkusu where they showed how it was done.
David R
28th February 2012, 08:24 PM
I simply cut the horn scales from some buffalo horn I had in store. I had owned (but sold on years ago) a yataghan before, and modeled these on what I remembered of it. I used fairly thick pieces, so I imagine the more sophisticated method of heating and shaping saves material, and probably produces a stronger piece of work.
Zifir
1st March 2012, 06:15 PM
Hi,
It is little bit hard to see the script as result of the reflection, especially the last part but it is:
La feta ila Ali la seyf ila zülfikar: There is no hero like Ali, there is no sword like his sword, zulfikar.
Best,
Zifir
David R
1st March 2012, 08:46 PM
One of the things I really appreciate about this site is the wide scope of knowledge and experience available. Thankyou Zifir and AJ1356 for the translation.
LewisB
6th March 2012, 01:56 AM
David:
Lovely yat, sir. Could you comment about the tang? Full length, full width? Reduced, a la some of the tulwars I have seen?
I'm sorry to offer such elementary questions, but I'm still a beginning student, and I don't know much about the yataghan (in particular).
David R
13th March 2012, 05:41 PM
The tang is flat and of the same profile as the grip, the ears project/flare well beyond the grip/tang. The tang is wrapped with a decorative brass strip, and has a repoused collar where it joins the blade, filled in this case with plaster....which I need to remove and replace with a more stable material some day. This was a bit of a wreck when I got it, but no complaints, I got it cheap as a result.
I had a yat' before, of much heavier construction and the collar was forged in one with the blade and flat profiled tang.
LewisB
14th March 2012, 05:03 AM
Many thanks, sir.
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.