Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - EBay Syrian Sword (retitled "Question" thread)

CharlesS · 25th May 2007, 01:25 AM

This sword was a bit of a gamble on my part, but was also a well reseached one. I had asked the seller for detailed pics of what she described as the "damascus blade", and apparently she thought that meant the koftgaried areas, and the pics were not so good, primarily because of the camera.

The one thing that did strike me though was the consistant uneven darkness of the blade, making me think it was, indeed, wootz. The koftkari was never really my #1 priority; the blade composition was.

The sword arrived today, and I was pleasantly surprised. It is very good Persian wootz. I have my suspicions about the koftgari as well, but it is not as perfect as one might think from the pics. I'd say it is at 90-95%. It does not have the clumsy thickness that new Indian koftgari often has, but I must admit I am not familiar with newly made Syrian work. Whatever the story with the koftgari, it was definitely not done "yesterday" as the whole blade is covered in a thin layer of sticky dried oil that clearly has been there for some time. This leads me to believe that Ariel may well be right...this blade may have been sitting in that scabbard for a very long time. The outside fittings are clearly original, and the silver koftgari there is a very impressive 85% or so, quite unusual on such fittings. The wear to the scabbard leather is puzzling, but almost all on the "saddle" side. The leather is dry rotting, but not too badly.

The outside repairs are quite clumsy and rapidly done. This leads me to believe that the repairs were hardly "restorations", but more like "fixes" by someone not familar with a better, more asthetic, technique.

All in all I was very pleased. The sword will take a little clean up, and light polish, but has a chance to be a real keeper.

Price-wise I was actually shocked that I got it. I am sure you are all aware of the sky-rocketing nature of shamshir prices by sellers and at auction houses. Had the seller made clearer, more detailed pics of the wootz blade, I dare say I would not have had a chance.

I look forward to sharing pics of the sword with my fellow forumites as soon as I have had a chance to clean it up a little and etch the blade.

25th May 2007, 01:25 AM	#9
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,854	This sword was a bit of a gamble on my part, but was also a well reseached one. I had asked the seller for detailed pics of what she described as the "damascus blade", and apparently she thought that meant the koftgaried areas, and the pics were not so good, primarily because of the camera. The one thing that did strike me though was the consistant uneven darkness of the blade, making me think it was, indeed, wootz. The koftkari was never really my #1 priority; the blade composition was. The sword arrived today, and I was pleasantly surprised. It is very good Persian wootz. I have my suspicions about the koftgari as well, but it is not as perfect as one might think from the pics. I'd say it is at 90-95%. It does not have the clumsy thickness that new Indian koftgari often has, but I must admit I am not familiar with newly made Syrian work. Whatever the story with the koftgari, it was definitely not done "yesterday" as the whole blade is covered in a thin layer of sticky dried oil that clearly has been there for some time. This leads me to believe that Ariel may well be right...this blade may have been sitting in that scabbard for a very long time. The outside fittings are clearly original, and the silver koftgari there is a very impressive 85% or so, quite unusual on such fittings. The wear to the scabbard leather is puzzling, but almost all on the "saddle" side. The leather is dry rotting, but not too badly. The outside repairs are quite clumsy and rapidly done. This leads me to believe that the repairs were hardly "restorations", but more like "fixes" by someone not familar with a better, more asthetic, technique. All in all I was very pleased. The sword will take a little clean up, and light polish, but has a chance to be a real keeper. Price-wise I was actually shocked that I got it. I am sure you are all aware of the sky-rocketing nature of shamshir prices by sellers and at auction houses. Had the seller made clearer, more detailed pics of the wootz blade, I dare say I would not have had a chance. I look forward to sharing pics of the sword with my fellow forumites as soon as I have had a chance to clean it up a little and etch the blade. Last edited by CharlesS; 25th May 2007 at 03:08 AM.