1784 Balkan yataghan of Christian owner

[eftihis]

This is an eraly yataghan with a 1784 Christian date and the initiasl of the owner "Z.Z." It has attached an old collection stamp. The blade is fully covered with silver inlay decoration and islamic inscriptions on both sides.

[eftihis]

The date

[TVV]

On thing we can all agree on is that this is a very nice yatagahan, congratulations.

My guess is that it is from the Western Balkans, probably the Dalmatian coast all the way down to Kotor potentially. I am basing this on the Latin initials, as well as on the relatively large number of yataghans in the collection of the Zagreb museum (per the Dora Boskovic catalogue) with similar straight blades and similar hilts.

[ariel]

I recall some Greek yataghans with thin ears. Masters tried to skimp on walrus ivory and used halves of longitudinally cut walrus tusks ( primary dentin by the tang, a layer of the secondary one comprising the ear) rather than the whole one ( primary-secondary- primary). The result was very fragile ears , often with losses, but the intact ones were superbly elegant, like this one.
Agree with Teodor on the origin.
Very, very nice one and likely, more decorative than fighting : no signs of active field usage.

[eftihis]

The inscriptions on one side

[eftihis]

The other side