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Atlantia · 24th April 2012, 04:33 PM

Hi Steve.

Interesting pattern welded blade. The (In)famous raindrop/birdseye pattern.
I believe that the antique examples of this pattern tend to be highly polished and lightly etched in a similar way to when Turkish ribbon/star is used in a kilic/yat with a flat edge and not deeply etched to provide a very stark high contrast like when star is used in the fullers of a Kindjal.
Yours seems to have been deeply etched all over like a kris.... or a modern 'reimagined' Indian raindrop/birdseye pattern blade and then somewhat cleaned possibly then lightly etched again?
It has all the features of a modern Indian made blade, often mounted as a Tulwar, but in this case mounted as a Nimcha.
Do you see any signs of differential tempering or use/sharpening beyond the uniform cleaning?

I would guess (and it's just my gut feeling) that this is a sword of Indian origin and probobly from the later 20thC.

Just my 2p worth. I could be bonkers of course. Still one up from a dancers sword in any event.

ATB
Gene

P.S. I do see atypical even one-off Indian pattern welded blades occasionally. Last year I saw a Nazi boot knife in raindrop pattern with Afrika Korps koftgari decoration.
These chaps make anything that takes their fancy.

24th April 2012, 04:33 PM	#7
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	Hi Steve. Interesting pattern welded blade. The (In)famous raindrop/birdseye pattern. I believe that the antique examples of this pattern tend to be highly polished and lightly etched in a similar way to when Turkish ribbon/star is used in a kilic/yat with a flat edge and not deeply etched to provide a very stark high contrast like when star is used in the fullers of a Kindjal. Yours seems to have been deeply etched all over like a kris.... or a modern 'reimagined' Indian raindrop/birdseye pattern blade and then somewhat cleaned possibly then lightly etched again? It has all the features of a modern Indian made blade, often mounted as a Tulwar, but in this case mounted as a Nimcha. Do you see any signs of differential tempering or use/sharpening beyond the uniform cleaning? I would guess (and it's just my gut feeling) that this is a sword of Indian origin and probobly from the later 20thC. Just my 2p worth. I could be bonkers of course. Still one up from a dancers sword in any event. ATB Gene P.S. I do see atypical even one-off Indian pattern welded blades occasionally. Last year I saw a Nazi boot knife in raindrop pattern with Afrika Korps koftgari decoration. These chaps make anything that takes their fancy.