Hi,
I recently bought this Yemeni, often called Zanzibar, sabre. The sword is of classic design, yet the D-Ring and handguard are missing. They seem to have been deliberately cut off at some point of the sword's life, yet not recently, as the edges of those pieces are as rusty as the other parts of the hilt. The blade is as usual, solidly peened to the hilt. The hilt material is clearly of wood, burned to look like some kind of horn. The crossguard and other hilt components seem to be of iron. The hilt is of almost certainly new manufacture.
The scabbard, is certainly newly made. A thin wooden core, covered with thick leather, stitched on one side. The leather has been painted with some sort of black paint to look old, but that paint is rubbing off.
The blade, is the strange part. As you can see, its tri-grooved, slightly curved, and is 28" long. The blade does bear a few small nicks on the edge, and some side scars, and is crudely polished. All throughout the blade there seems to be some hammer/forge marks, or could they be deep pitting?? If pitting, this would signify that this is an old blade which was recently polished and re-fitted. As to the quality of the blade, its seems to be of good manufacture. Its not that sharp, yet it has good flex, and seems to be pretty hard. Certainly a locally made blade.
Questions:
1. Have you seen any newly made Yemeni swords?
2. Could this be an older blade, with new fittings?
3. Is this a fully, newly made sword?
Sword in Scabbard:
Sword in Scabbard (other side):
Full Blade:
Full Blade (other side):
Lower Half of Sword:
Upper Half of Sword:
Upper hald of Sword (other side):
Closeup of Forte:
