Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Marcus · 7th November 2016, 01:06 PM

Let’s assume that this blade was made by the Enfield armory, as if for an1853 pattern Cavalry Trooper Saber. Since Enfield was not an exporter per se, I think that it is reasonable to guess that the blade was diverted to British India through some official channel. Britain was certainly interested in courting the favor of local leaders both inside and outside of Kabul, so I would speculate that either the blade or the complete sword was intended as a gift. Of course a complete sword would make the better gift, so the question then is where was the blade assembled with the hilt. The three choices I imagine would be England, British India, or Afghanistan. I doubt if this workmanship, with such a nice rendition of the local style and an Arabic invocation, originated in England, so I would guess either British India, or Afghanistan. I would lean toward the former.

One could also ask whether the scabbard was adapted from a British military scabbard. The standard scabbards were steel and this scabbard appears to have a leather cover glued on top of a rigid core, which could easily have been adapted from the original steel scabbard with the drag removed.

7th November 2016, 01:06 PM	#28
Marcus Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 420	Hilt and scabbard Let’s assume that this blade was made by the Enfield armory, as if for an1853 pattern Cavalry Trooper Saber. Since Enfield was not an exporter per se, I think that it is reasonable to guess that the blade was diverted to British India through some official channel. Britain was certainly interested in courting the favor of local leaders both inside and outside of Kabul, so I would speculate that either the blade or the complete sword was intended as a gift. Of course a complete sword would make the better gift, so the question then is where was the blade assembled with the hilt. The three choices I imagine would be England, British India, or Afghanistan. I doubt if this workmanship, with such a nice rendition of the local style and an Arabic invocation, originated in England, so I would guess either British India, or Afghanistan. I would lean toward the former. One could also ask whether the scabbard was adapted from a British military scabbard. The standard scabbards were steel and this scabbard appears to have a leather cover glued on top of a rigid core, which could easily have been adapted from the original steel scabbard with the drag removed.