Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

eftihis · 19th February 2013, 10:38 PM

FAKE N1:
The "Cretan dagger style" yataghan. The silver scabbard's silverwork and style is totaly irrelevant to Crete. It is just a spare silver scabbard, where they put an enormus- unproportional, totaly useless (because of its monstrus size of "V" handle") newly made knife. I recognise the style of the maker, he is dead now, but he was active from 1930s up to late 70s in Chania.
So obviously the date "1815" on the blade is fake, and my guess is that it was particulary made to be bought by the museum.

FAKE N2:
The ivory hilted yataghan with the nicely repousse decorated silver scabbard (that has as a first design the face of the hero of the rovolution of 1821, General Karaiskakis).
If you look carefully at the point that the yataghan enters the scabbard you will see that the dimensions of the scabbard are not for this blade. It is a much "fatter" and wider scabbard. Also the yataghan does not go inside to "lock" and fit like a glove, as is the case in the original yataghans (even in the simple ones!)
Actually there is a funny story behind this yataghan. An antique seller in the 60s discovered a letter of Kapodistrias (maybe a true letter or a fake one), where the governor expressed his will to order 12 yataghans to give as a present to the 12 greatest heroes of the revolution. Then the governor was assasinated, and the story goes that the yataghans were never presented to their owners, and remained to the maker, untill they were discovered in the 60s!!! I am sure that what actually happened, is that this antique dealer found 12 scabbardless yataghans (Greece was full of them at that time), and ordered to a master silversmith to make 12 scabbards for them. He was a great silversmith, the chisseling is great, but he had never made scabbards before, so all of them are "fatter" and wider than the originals of the era, and none fits well with its blade!
The are other mistakes also on the scabbards, but i think i dont need to go to more detail, its obvious.
5 or 6 were bought by Averoff and are now in his museum at Metsovo. They are exhibited, and are in the museum cataloque...
Even Elgood has them in his book!

19th February 2013, 10:38 PM	#8
eftihis Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Chania Crete Greece Posts: 500	FAKE N1: The "Cretan dagger style" yataghan. The silver scabbard's silverwork and style is totaly irrelevant to Crete. It is just a spare silver scabbard, where they put an enormus- unproportional, totaly useless (because of its monstrus size of "V" handle") newly made knife. I recognise the style of the maker, he is dead now, but he was active from 1930s up to late 70s in Chania. So obviously the date "1815" on the blade is fake, and my guess is that it was particulary made to be bought by the museum. FAKE N2: The ivory hilted yataghan with the nicely repousse decorated silver scabbard (that has as a first design the face of the hero of the rovolution of 1821, General Karaiskakis). If you look carefully at the point that the yataghan enters the scabbard you will see that the dimensions of the scabbard are not for this blade. It is a much "fatter" and wider scabbard. Also the yataghan does not go inside to "lock" and fit like a glove, as is the case in the original yataghans (even in the simple ones!) Actually there is a funny story behind this yataghan. An antique seller in the 60s discovered a letter of Kapodistrias (maybe a true letter or a fake one), where the governor expressed his will to order 12 yataghans to give as a present to the 12 greatest heroes of the revolution. Then the governor was assasinated, and the story goes that the yataghans were never presented to their owners, and remained to the maker, untill they were discovered in the 60s!!! I am sure that what actually happened, is that this antique dealer found 12 scabbardless yataghans (Greece was full of them at that time), and ordered to a master silversmith to make 12 scabbards for them. He was a great silversmith, the chisseling is great, but he had never made scabbards before, so all of them are "fatter" and wider than the originals of the era, and none fits well with its blade! The are other mistakes also on the scabbards, but i think i dont need to go to more detail, its obvious. 5 or 6 were bought by Averoff and are now in his museum at Metsovo. They are exhibited, and are in the museum cataloque... Even Elgood has them in his book!