Following our discussion of questionable Kindjals, I just wanted to show the one that exemplifies both the sophistication and the gall of modern "industry"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=012
On a small picture it appears kinda good.
Then you start looking...
1. The silver fitting at the bottom of the scabbard has a name of the master: Omarov. Very famous owner of a workshop in Vladikavkaz end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th centuries.
But... he never wrote his name down at that place or using a niello technique( always on the blade and deeply struck); handwriting is undescribably crude; the name is spelled without a "yat" at the end ( orthography post 1918). Obvious fake.
2. Look at the back of the scabbard: do you see faint whitish lines? This is a trace of the modern technique, when the ornament is transfered to the metal using photography ( for further embellishment)
3. The niello on the front of the scabbard is put using photographic outline ( like a sticker)
4. The hallmark is fake: no initials or Greek letter, the head is all wrong and the font of "84" is wrong. If this is "sterling silver", my cat is a lion.
5. The blade is obviously old and totally out of sync with the new-ish state of the scabbard.
A $3 bill is a genuine article in comparison!
I do not know who the "private bidder" was, but he overpayed ~ $959.01