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Originally Posted by TVV
GC,
I agree with you that this is not a European sword blade, and most definitely not a Wilkinson blade. The Afghans were very adept at making copies, there are articles on this forum explaining how they were able to reverse engineer Martinis and even Mauser C96s. The one thing they did not always get quite right were the European markings, as the craftsmen copying those simply did not understand them.
What I see here is an interesting Afghan military sword, made most likely in the early 20th century. To me this is an example of local craftsmanship and outside (in this particular instance British) influence in a time, when the Afghan army was transitioning and modernizing. A search in the ethnographic section will produce examples of the Mosque at Mazar-i-Sharif marking applied to traditional Afghan arms, if I remember correctly to denote that they belonged to the Khan's arsenal in Kabul.
Teodor
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Exactly!! Perfectly explained and 100% agree. The skills of the Afghans in arms production is astonishing.........and as noted, many arms are well made copies but the markings often are readily discernible as non authentic.