Wolfy Nimcha
 

well, finally got my moroccan (?) nimcha/saif. billed as 19c.
grip has a bit of insect damage & scabbard needs some tlc.

single edged spear point blade has what appears to be a running wolf on the right side. locally added, or could it be a german trade blade? blade does look 19c to me.

overall length in scabbard is 42 in.

comments appreciated. thanks in advance.

Hi,
Just my opinion: I think you are a lucky guy with a rhino hilt, yes, 19th c blade and a good scabbard with metallic wires (far above the standard quality). For me, there is no doubt you are in the mid-19th c. may be a little bit earlier...
Best,
Kubur

I forgot, I can't see any wolf, just an Arabic word and a number...

looked like a dog/wolf running towards the point, curved back & head at front with front leg bent at elbow & rear bent at knee. (red below)

it didn't make any sense to me as arabic right side up (spine at top), upside down it looks a bit more arabic but i didn't see any characters that looked like the initial looped one tho the initial looped character looks like it might be but the loop looks wrong. see chart below. arabic is read right to left, initial, median and terminating forms of the same character are different. numbers are read like ours, left to right. it could be bad 'penmanship' or a local variant tho. the three 'numbers' don't make sense, with the dot representing zero, the remaining two only one looks like a number either way up. maybe one of our arabic speakers will see and comment.

Kuber, it looks to me like the scabbard is stitched with thread???

i think it looks like thread. will know when it arrives from the states...hopefully before xmas.

Misery you are right!
In fact i never saw any nimcha scabbard with metallic wire.

For the Arabic, there is no doubt.

For your wolf, if i follow your drawing, it could be a platypus, nice and kind animal... :)

platypus are poisonous! ;) the only poisonous mammal. the males have spurs that will inject the poison. not very cuddly.

the upside down 'arabic' ?

( i admit it's resemblance to a wolf is stretching it a bit :) tho the real wolf of passau marks resemblance to a wolf is not that great either.)

A North African Platypus????....I don't think so!. They are found ONLY in Australia!.

maybe it was adopted.

Nimcha hilted Saif arrived today. more substantial beast than expected. the grip and guard are firm, insect damage does not compromise it's strength. the grip has a small red wooden section at the guard with a figured brass bolster which is a tad loose. the remaining grip appears to be a fibrous keratin-like material. i, like kubar posted suspect it may be made from the hairy horn of an indiginous african herbivore. it did pass thru USA export and UK import customs successfully. i suspect this if mentioned would seriously increase it's value above my purchase price.

the ferrous guard has a dark patina, the sharp blade also has a age darkened 'patina' tho no rust.

the scabbard is wood, and essentially intact except the very thin leather cover is a bit tattered (actually a LOT tattered). the suspension bands, one has the seam open opposite the small ring which is also missing the larger free ring, the other has a closed seam but is missing the small ring that a larger free ring would be for attaching to the suspension clips.

blade is distal tapered, about 7mm (1/4 in.) thick and 1 1/4in. wide at the grip/guard end. blade is 35 in. long. the un-fullered tip portion is spear pointed, sharp on both edges. the rest of the blade (fullered part) is single edged and sharp for about half it's length, then about as sharp as a butter knife. balance is about 5 1/2 in. in front of the guard.

total weight is 1150 grams ex scabbard. all in all, not a short sword, so 'nimcha' as meaning a short sword is a misnomer, it's a saif and a long one.