An Interesting Saif
 

Hello all,

I acquired this saif a while ago from the net. The pictures that the seller showed me were unclear and showed the crudeness of the sword more then anything. But the price was low, lower then the Ardha saifs which contain lots of silver. Once it arrived here, I was surprised that the blade is of good quality, thicker around the spine and maintains a constantly sharpened edge. The most interesting part of it was the false edge and the very low yelman like feature.

The fittings are newer compared to the blade and is slightly crude especially the scabbard.

Here are the pictures:

G'day Lofty,

The blade profile is indeed an interesting one and it appears very broad. The spine too shows very good thickness so I can imagine the distal taper is impressive.
What are thoughts behind the sword and blade?

Gav

Thanks Gav.

A similar broad saif is suggested to be in the "executioner style" by Oriental arms.

The blade is very well forged but seems to have been overused. Dont see any signs of misuse but it seems to have been hammered back in shape more then once.

Salaams Lofty~ Nice wool rugs which appear to be Afghan... split palmette style with interesting VVVVV shaped 4 legged animals which may be stylised camels ... on a central floral ground typically surrounded by 7 borders varying from twizzle twist to "S" pattern.

Oh must not forget the sword !! :shrug: Looks like a mean weapon of the variety Shamshir and Bedoiun looking to me.. Great idea displayed on the rugs...

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Bump, Anyone can advice on the origin of this blade??

It looks like an Indian blade to me. According to Russel Robinson the blades which widened a little to the point were fighting blades, and the tapered ones for hunting....yer pays yer money and takes yer choice on that one. I have two tulwars with similar blades in them. Check for the "Indian ricasso" at the base of the blade, or traces there was one there, which would confirm the ID.
The bottom one has such a thick spine it is nearly T section, also signed, but I don't know who.

Hey David,

I first thought this one an indian blade. But no ricasso but it could be shortened? The fittings on the blade seems palastinians, especially the scabbard. Will show photos soon. Its not uncommon though for bedouins in Palastine to adopt Syrian/Badawi whatever style though :P

Could be a local made blade? I am thinking of etching it...

Salam Alaikum ya Khouya
once again, you are getting the best :D
but awaiting for the other pics, before to deliver my appreciations :p
mabrouk, alf mabrouk

à +

Dom

Salam Ibrahiim. Thank you for the bonus interesting info on the rugs...I was curious myself and you answered my question :)

Salaams Nathaniel~ Rugs are incredibly interesting and form a side branch to ethnographic designs and give all sorts of clues as to possible origins etc... For the masterclass simply visit the one and only www.spongobongo.com for an absolute thesis on the entire subject. Shukran ! :shrug:
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

You are tempting me to post my two rugs now.

Have a couple of those rugs, really nice especially that the red colour is one of my favourite :-)

Their quality was put to test a month ago when a pipe exploded in the top floor of my house while all were sleeping, the whole house was flooded. Some of the lower quality rugs lost some colour and feel while those remained normal.