[M.carter]

Beautiful first post Tsubame1, very friendly. I said, and still stick to my claim, that this is a Turkish made, 17th century blade, with later Persian fittings, and probably much later gold inlay. This isnt out of pure speculation, but according to Anthony C. Tirri's* great book, "Islamic Weapons, Maghrib to Moghul" (see page 130). The claim that it belonged to a 14th century Armenian King is still unproven, and never be proven, I believe.

*Anthony C. Tirri is a scholar of Islamic arms and history, who has handled more pieces than anyone I know probably, and his collection contains hundreds of beautiful pieces.