And I have some sikin from Aceh with wonderful crown integral bolsters. Fine in the south-east Asian context, but not from the Mediterranean or Ottoman sphere.
Any west/central Asian examples?
Yes, the integral bolster has a medieval tradition in western European and Italian cutlery. But why and how its transfer to heavy long swords in Ottoman regions when the standard sabre design was good enough?
Why blades with heavy integral bolsters in Anatolia, the Balkans, and Algeria, coincident with a 300-year tradition of thin flat blades with separate ornamental ferules?
So, in the Mediterranean (and Black Sea) basins we have:
- Maybe Kuban/Circassian/Tatar knives and sabres - very early
- Genovese knives - early
- Anatolian yataghan with Turkush ribbon - early/middle
- Kabyle flyssa - middle
- Bulgarian karakulak - middle/late
- Ionian yataghan with T-pommel - late
- Pontic Laz bicag - very late
All coastal areas within the Ottoman sphere of influence and on the Genovese/Italian trade routes.
Emanuel
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