Jambiya with Crocodile incised blade
 

undefinedHello everyone,
I am currently n the process of trying to catalogue my collection and have discovered quite a few items that I am unsure about and hope that you may be able to advise me as to origin etc. The first item is a Jambiya which I believe to be North African but I am not sure. It is quite a big one being nineteen and a half inches long with a blade thirteen and a half inches long x two inches wide. The hilt and scabbard are covered with embossed brass sheet which seems to have been silvered most of which has worn off. The workmanship is very good with the most striking feature being the crocodile incised on both sides of the blade. I would be grateful for your comments.
Thanking you in anticipation
Miguel

Hi Miguel,
I like very much your dagger.
Externaly the style is completly ottoman, material, shape of the scabbard and the hilt, plus the zigzag pattern made with a wheel.
But your blade looks Sudanese to me. The "little suns" and the "finger nails" motives, plus the crocodile (could be a monitor lizard)... I would say 19th c., North Sudan or maybe Southern Egypt (Nubia). I'm maybe wrong for the date.
Best,
Kubur

I agree with Kubur, ...that cut-out crocodile motif is sometimes to be seen on straight Sudanese blades, often of the sheet metal variety.

Last tought, last minute:
I have seen some Bou Saidi (Algerian / Kabyle) knifes with the same patterns "little suns" and the "finger nails"... Just to let you know.
But I still think like Colin that Sudan is the best candidate.

What are the dimensions? nice strange thing. I think its an Uromastyx rather than a crocodile! The construction of the item looks akin to shibriya (yes, some come with a similar curved blade rather than the usual shibriya blade) but it could be anything!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uromastyx

Hi,
Please have a look at the book from Egerton of Tatton
notice n°197, blade with crocodile from Dongola, Sudan.
Best,
Kubur

Jambiya with Crockodile incised blade
 

Thanks Guys your comments have been really helpful, special thanks to Kabur for guiding me to a ref book. I have been searching for an illustration showing a blade with a crocodile image without success.
Many thanks again
Miguel

Hi Kubur,
Thought you might be interested in this illustration that I have found in one of my books that I seldom refer to. you will see that fig 9 is an illustration of the sword described in Egerton`s book or one very similar and you can distinctly see the crocodile decoration on the blade.
Regards
Miguel

Yep it's the one.
But yours is a cross cultural object, Sudanese blade and Egyptian/Ottoman hilt and scabbard. :)