Kilij on e-bay

[ariel]

Please check
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4070&item=6501997450&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

It has ended on e-bay and we are legally free to discuss it.
It is a beautiful Tegha, a wide and heavy version of Tulwar, with a big Yelman and profuse Islamic writings on the blade. Looks spectacular!
However...
I am looking at it and feel somewhat uncomfortable: it is way too pristine, with nary a nick on the edge and with an astonishingly intact handle: not a scratch, not a speckle of lost or damaged decoration, not a trace of deformity. The blade appears to wear a brownish "patina" but it looks like a superficial layer of a dried-out dirty lubricant.
You get my drift: who is willing to stick his neck out and vouch for this sword to be old and original instead of modern replica? Are there any reliable signs to distinguish a real stuff from a "Made in India" replica besides one's gut feeling?

[B.I]

can only speculate but think the blade is probably late 19thC. there is a style of kilij made very late to almost imitate the earlier pieces. doubtfully made for actual use, the blades had thin koftgari and although they looke large and heavy, they were ridiculously light. it was a shock to pick them up as you braced yourself for weight. the hilt is probably a marriage. only a guess i'm afraid, but i dont feel its modern, but definately not of real age. i like the way the seller gives multiple images showing the same thing. modern pieces are just too obvious and most dont warrant questioning.

[ksbhati]

Hi ! JMHO but I think that this is a replica with with an Antique Finish...!! At US$ 2500 definately too expensive :D !!

Regards,

Karni

[tom hyle]

The knucklebow looks wrong to me. I don't trust the untapered flatness of it, I don't trust the way it joins the quillon, and I don't trust that it seems to join the pommel. I haven't seen this on old ones?....