Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
Welcome back, Roland!
I agree that this really seems to be wootz. Is the reason why you favour a northern Indian (or Ottoman) origin the larger/medium size of the grain? For the time being, I would not exclude a southern Indian origin. It does not have the more linear grain common to Ottoman sham though.
Is the whole blade from wootz, possibly from a single ingot? Any details visible at the back of the blade?
While some smiths did travel around, I'm less convinced that this is the only feasible/possible explanation here: Are there possibly any indications that this blade might have been carved from an imported blank? (Also a really tough job, indeed!)
Regards,
Kai
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Hello Kai,
thank you for your comment. The pattern shows some similarities to my huge Kard, which is of indian or afghan origin.
Ottoman wootz is not always Sham, they also had sabers with very fine crystalline patterns. But they are very rare to find. After endless hours of researching I only saw one example in the internet. I will show you pictures of one at your next visit.
The sword is made from one single ingot as far as I can judge and it is absolutely flawless like modern monosteel. I do not believe that it was created from an older sword, with nearly 6 cm width at the widest point. It is too wide for any sword I know. It is also pretty massive with more than 1kg of weight. Too big and too wide for a reshaped blade. I also do not believe, that it is an imported blade, the shape is like many other Tenegre. It was a large ingot and at least the Ottomans were able to forge blades above 1kg of weight from a single ingot.
Which surprises me is the high production standard of this sword. It was forged by an experienced smith, which knew how to bring out the best of the material.
The mentioned quality of the blade is easy to demonstrate. The sword is long (27" without hilt), heavy (1kg+) and it has seen combat. The edge is full of small nicks.
The chiselshaped edge is quite thin and with this weight and length under high stress. The area above the edge is as usual slightly wavy from forging and polishing without flattening the back perfectly. But the edge itself is like on an expensive japanese sword, perfectly even. This thin edge shows not the smallest wave or other deformations.
Regards,
Roland