Delor,
I can only shake my head in astonishment...
You did a marvelous job, and with all the points astutely noticed by Alex, this is an example of a wonderful craftsmanship. My hat is off to you!!!

On the other hand, the part I do not get is the wish of the customer to have a modern ( although highly artistic) replica of a yataghan. I have no idea how much it cost him ( you've earned every penny) and how long he had to wait for the finished product, but I bet that for half the price he could have bought himself an excellent genuine and truly old one. No matter how great is the craftsmanship, the aura of history cannot be recreated.

I am proud of you, but cannot understand him.

Well, it won't be used in reenactments of the Siege of Vienna, that's for sure! On the other hand he probably wanted a modern custom show knife based upon that form.

Dom, thank you very much ...and merci beaucoup !
I'm far from being a "master" as were some of the craftsmen of the ancient times, but it's the goal I'm trying to reach...

Ariel, thanks a lot. I do understand your comments, and I'm not trying to recreate the "aura" of genuire arms, that would be very difficult anyway, and certainly not respectable trying to fool people by making fake copies.
You should think of the customer as somebody who wishes to have a brand new and beautiful sword. And he wants it to be custom made, exactly fitting his will. He's not different from the customer who bought the same one, a few centuries ago. He's also aware of the History and traditions, but he is not a collector of antique artefacts. He likes beautiful old clothes but wants a new habit for himself...

fspic, you get it..

And of course this is a unique chance for me, trying to work just as the ancient craftsman did ! It feels like shaking hands with him...so my only wish is that my yatagan could look the same in XXIIIth century as the one you're collecting today !

Well said! You did shake hands with Ahmet Tekelu and did it with pride and honor.

As to the buyer.... Well, people collect what they want and there is no accounting for the taste. I personally would very much prefer a modest yataghan from the Siege of Vienna to a lavish contemporary one. But this is just my preference :-)

Great job!

You are very flattering. Thank you very much. I'd rather say that being his apprentice (if some time-machine could help) would be a huge honor...

About the buyers : well, we all should be glad that buyers in those ancient times bought brand new swords. Otherwise,we would have nothing to collect by now ! ;)

Greetings,
Bernard

There is a well established custom knife making culture in America most of which makes traditional hunting or military knives. In the last ten or twelve years custom makers mastered the process of Damascus pattern manufacture. Others have produced wootz. The University of Illinois at Urbana has a well developed colony of blacksmiths who do fine pattern or wootz ironwork. It may be part of a metallurgical course.

Dr. Figiel told me some years ago that he was impressed by the work of the Pendray organization in their experimentation with wootz pattern alloys. However I believe they were studying industrial applications and wear qualities.

As is obvious there is also a well developed commercial market for fantasy knives which is a low class garish market. In the most dignified form it will provide weapons for movies. What use there is for the rest of it (look at eBay) I don't know. In the case at hand it is possible for a wealthy client to merge honest historical artistry in metalwork with his own personal fantasies.
Imagine such a party in his custom octagon shaped play room with huge plasma wall screens on each wall playing the battle scenes from the Three Hundred defending the pass against the Persians. There he is, naked with high black leather boots, with embroidered sash holding his gold and coral inlaid scabbard, slashing and chopping at the oncoming hordes and screaming battle commands and hurling oaths. At the end of the movie all the screens have been chopped into slivers of glass and our hero is laying exhausted and sweating on the floor with his precious yataghan cradled in his arms. Upon recovery he will consult his catalogs of weapons collections, comission a new blade and order eight new wall screens.

This sort of clientele will keep the high end edged weapons market alive just as it did over the centuries - the difference being they didn't need wall screens in olden times.

How have I not seen this yet?

I myself am an enthusiast of modern-made pieces. This one in particular is very lovely. The ivory and silver combination is wonderful.