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Originally Posted by Ian
Ibrahiim:
I think you have made a strong case (several times) for this sword to be a recent marriage of an old European blade and an old Omani hilt that has been dressed up to be sold as something it is not--in other words it is a fake pretending to be an older sword. I don't hear anyone really objecting to your conclusions.
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I believe various objections were made in the topic that got locked. And I did as well in this one. Unless you consider repetition to be a 'strong' argument then case is closed. But let me restate what Ibrahim considers to be the reason why these are fakes;
1- Omanis do not use European trade blades (unlike the whole world and existing evidence that they did)
2- Therefore all Omani swords with European blades are automatically deemed as fakes. Even when there is no evidence to that.
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The Ethiopian swords drowning the Arab world from Yemen all the way to Syria (pre-mess) are well known, and yes, there are Arab craftsmen who used the fine trade blades on Ethiopian swords to make new swords. This is seen in Oman (on swords with NEW dress) and Yemen and Saudi Arabia as well. Now this does not mean that every single European blade made it to the region through Ethiopia and 1970 that Ibrahim keeps repeating. There is evidence in Museums and collections abroad and within the region of such blades existing in the region for quite a long time.
Both blades published here are not of the type that is commonly find on Ethiopian swords, and the rounded tip on the first shows elements that are Omani rather than Ethiopian. We all know the tourist sword industry, I see no reason why they would round the tip, antique the blade to perfection to sell to tourists? makes no sense at all. All that added to the patina, the proper quality old riveting on the hilt tang compared to swords shared by Ibrahim with crappy welding.
Also, by all means visit Oman and visit Mutrah, I've been there and the demand for older European blades like this is high and seen as part of the sword culture there. Not Ethiopian swords made by Wilkinson, but Portuguese blades and older German ones. There are rehilts in Mutrah, and those are pointed out as so. It also happens that all the swords with proper blades were in private collections, while the rehilts (obviously so to collectors) are offered for sale.
But I guess lets just believe that Omanis had swords to dance with and swords to fight with. They probably had toy horses too.