Jim,
It seems to me that often we estimate age based on overall quality, which is not an absolutely certain method. Obviously, the older pieces that have survived tend to be those, whose owners found them worth keeping, or in other words, those that were of high quality.
This does not mean though that there were not cruder examples as one goes further back in time - just less of them were preserved.
I can see how the crude work on the blade can suggest a 20th century origin, but I am not sure it necessarily is a relatively new sword. It may be a crude, early version that for whatever reason made it to this day. The similarity to a yataghan to me is most intriguing and is the reason why I am not willing to write this off as a relatively moddern oddity.
To me, this looks like a very funtional blade, and actually much more functional than the longer versions of the flyssa, which seem to be terribly unbalanced. This particular one, on the other hand, would make a very nice chopper, just like shorter yataghans. It just seems too functional if you will for a 20th century piece, assuming that by this time, flyssas had lost their importance as weapons and were more of status symbols, as you point out.
Just a different perspective.
Best regards,
Teodor
|