Mare Rosu
Thank you for the clearer picture. I would say a mixture of hard soldering of patterned silver wire elements at the throat, then some repousse, then further down some embossing:
embossing : when first chasing the design onto the metal sheet, then afterwards flipping the sheet around and hammering from underneath. This makes a slightly different effect than repousse (where one hammers from underneath first .
Another note: it looks like the scabbard at least has Iragi influence and maybe from Bagdad.
Yannis
I would not be surprised that what you say is true. Instead of an oxidation only, niello is a thick plaque. On a plain smooth surface there would be less to which it could adhere, as opposed to a textured surface or at minimum a recessed area where it would have more to which to cling. Thus chasing or texturing the silver is most often done with the metal before niello is applied.
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