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Originally Posted by kahnjar1
Perhaps if these are as common as you say, you could provide some pics of them actually in the Souks.
This is NOT a tourist piece, unlike some of the Replicas/Rebuilds coming out of Oman. This piece is too old and very functional.
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Yes of course in a few minutes... the souks are awash with them...on the other hand I wouldnt want to make a presentation which could be misconstrued as commercially biased since that could hurt the sensibilities of certain individuals... not that I would do that..of course. That is not to discourage people going to the souk... its great fun and full of weird stuff; some real, some not. I find it irresistable and reccommend it to all visitors.
Anyway these fakes...they sometimes have a good blade.. its just pot luck...
Its just what sells..The tourists scoop them up all over the place. I can show scores of them all stacked up in the souk in Mutrah and I know theres a load in Sharjah they haul in box loads from India and Yemen. I saw bundles of Tulwar in Sharjah the other day...same situation with those...they look alright but they aren't. Theres a complete back street industry been knocking these out for tourists for donkeys years in Sanaa and India etc.
Im just off to Buraimi Souk theres some over there. I know the shop owner ... I will ask him where he gets them. He is Yemeni... so I guess... Sanaa? Thats where Muscat gets their bulk of junk. There aren't (well maybe about 3 a month) any tourists in Yemen so swords are pouring out ~exporting to surrounding souks. I just rang up the Muscat boys and when they could stop laughing they said its just "bread and butter"...they sell loads of them... they are in the right price range to be carted off by tourists off cruise ships who often dont even ask if they are genuine..
I imagine they also exist in just about every souk from here to Morocco, Egypt, Yemen UAE and in India etc... serious buyers beware. The proper Nimchas are a cut above these.
I shall include later an article in the "Souks of Oman" thread on how to spot fakes.
They are souvenirs for tourists.
Photo.
( See below Yemeni sword put up for tourists to buy...typefied by a not bad looking blade(new) Picture taken by me tonight at about 9pm. 31 Dec 2012. Buraimi Souk. According to the store owner who is Yemeni ~Hilt knocked up in a backyard workshop in Sanaa, Scabbard made to order..same souk. Same applies to Mutrah and other souks in that traders in this case from the Habaabi region in Saudia adjacent Yemen and offloaded this. Apparently these weapons can be further aged by being dropped in car battery acid and then buried in the ground. The same can be done to scabbards..Looks like it came out of a similar workshop to the project sword at #1.)
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.