There were quite a few of such workshops : Omarov, Mudunov, Guzunov, Koshtoyanz etc. All of them capitalized on a fascination with " all things exotic" pervading Russian society after the Conquest of the Caucasus. Georgia was absorbed, Daghestan was drowned in blood, Circassians were exiled en masse, but.... Russian Tsars pranced around on Caucasian steeds, while wearing Causasian clothes, Caucasian hats ( papakhas) and carrying Caucasian shashkas and kindjals presented to them by their " adoring Caucasian subjects". For a small-time Russian aristocracy or middle-class , no trip to the Caucasian mineral springs was considered complete without bringing back a richly -decorated kindjal with a gaudy inscription, having a photograph taken while wearing a full set of Caucasian attire or, for a Russian matron, without having a fling with a passionate swarthy and mustachioed mountaineer.
The "vanquished" became trendsetters.
On top of that, a military version of Caucasian Shashka became a standard weapon of the Cossack Hosts, that were utterly devoid of any productive abilities and had to order prodigious amounts of the already outdated bladed weaponry elsewhere: from Belgium, Poland, Zlatoust, and,- yes,- local enterprises.
In this climate, mass-production of rich and often gaudy Caucasian weapons became a profitable business. These were for the most part expensive baubles, with blades of rather poor quality but with tons of silver, ivory, gilding and blood-curdling inscriptions. The workshops employed itinerant workers from all over and specific ethnic decoration styles coalesced into an amorphous "Caucasian" hodge-podge.
There were fabulous Caucasian masters, no doubt, and I am in love with their weapons, but I could never bring myself to buying a "workshop" kindjal.
Anyone interested in the history of Caucasus, should read a book by Leslie Blanch "Sabres of Paradise". I give it 10 stars out of 5!!! Schedule a week-long vacation, because you will not be able to put it down:-)
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