Wedding Nimcha....with functional blade?
 

Followed this on eBay....the blade on this example is 1/4" (6-7 mm) at its thickess point. The handle decoration seems unusual and certainly seems to have age. The curveture is not as acute as most 'Wedding Nimcha's' i have seen. Could this be a true 'functional' Nimcha 'dagger' .....
These were discussed in a previous thread.....I am not convinced that this form of dagger has a purely 'ceremonial' function.....Comments gratefully recieved...thankyou


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=015

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...wedding+nimcha

Nice. I try to think of these as a form of flyssa, more than nimcha, which they are often called. Are the patterns carved into the handle, or inlaid?

Hi Tom.....unfortunately its not mine.....didn't bid enough :(
I believe the decoration is inlaid. I really regret not bidding more....never mind...

decoration is wire overlaid soldered to piece tourist piece

Hi Ward,
is this a common type of 'tourist' piece, I have never seen one before ( with this type of decoration). One of the characteristics (stated in another thread , mentioned above) is the fact that the 'tourist' type had very thin blades, around 2mm. This particular one has a 1/4" ..approx. 6mm blade...a functional thickness :shrug: Admittedly thickness is no indication of the quality of the blade.

Yes That decoration is extreamly common on tourist pieces. It is very easy to craft and can be done with a minimum of tools.. blade thickness can be a indication but a overview of the piece is usually needed I uploaded a koran case from magrib forget about the enamel work but if you look at wire same type of work.

Thanks Ward,
looks like I saved money.... :)
I believe that the 'Wedding Nimcha' evolved from a functional form. I have one that has a 'good' blade, with a sharp cutting edge and a false edge at the tip, and was assured by the seller that this was a WW1 'bring back'. Whether or not this is a 'quality' ceremonial piece or 'functional' seems to be a point of view. It seems there is no hard evidence about the evolution of these knives.

When I saw this example with a 6-7 mm thick spine and 'unusual' (to me) decoration, I thought I had found the 'missing link'.....possible proof of the 'functional' Wedding Nimcha ......ah well. Thankyou for the information... and (in a way) a reminder that a thicker blade is just 'more metal' and not necessarily 'more functional' ........ ;)