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Originally Posted by Iain
Great post! Regarding the newly made blades, are the forged locally? Made from available steel scrap and heat treated? Or imported from another region like India?
From an outside perspective it seems like these swords are often remounted, which can be frustrating for the collector who might like to acquire one with mounts the same age as the blade. Are any parts of the mounts typically recycled? Perhaps guards?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as you continue to share information on the topic!
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Hey Iain,
The blades come from many sources but a good number of swords coming out of Bahrain (mainly) are locally made with professional skill. Other blades like pattern welded ones are imported from India, mainly to Qatar as Bahrainis make their own pattern welded blades. A swordmaker in Qatar works with Syrian bladesmiths who moved to Lebanon due to the war. Also heard of blades coming from Brazil but often seen as very poor quality.
The swordmakers also do restorations and often they perserve the old parts depending on the order of the customer. Although I find some of their restorations to be way too invading as some simply do not have a concept or understanding on perserving old items.
There are some occasion where wootz quillons and scabbard mounts are perserved but generally they would be cleaned, etched and put on scabbards that are made to look like the old ones.