Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Yemeni Jambiya for restoration....but is it worth it?

Lew · 22nd October 2007, 10:27 PM

Hi Katana

Your jambiya seems circa 1970s-80s the quality is ok for that time period. The silver work is not as nice as the the ones seen prior to 1948. Many of the skilled Yemeni silversmiths were Jewish and most of them immigrated to Israel after 1948. So you do see a decline in over all silverwork quality after that time. As far as the hilt being made of rhino horn you will need to look for those tightly packed fiber bundles at the top of the hilt. Here are two older 19th century ones for comparison the top one is rhino horn.

Lew

22nd October 2007, 10:27 PM	#5
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	Hi Katana Your jambiya seems circa 1970s-80s the quality is ok for that time period. The silver work is not as nice as the the ones seen prior to 1948. Many of the skilled Yemeni silversmiths were Jewish and most of them immigrated to Israel after 1948. So you do see a decline in over all silverwork quality after that time. As far as the hilt being made of rhino horn you will need to look for those tightly packed fiber bundles at the top of the hilt. Here are two older 19th century ones for comparison the top one is rhino horn. Lew Attached Images Last edited by LOUIEBLADES; 23rd October 2007 at 03:00 PM.