Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 27th September 2021, 07:12 PM

All I can say about them:
1. Both are Yemeni Janbiyas
2. Both have real blades, not modern Chinese fakes with stamped seml- blades welded to each other at the periphery and hollow inside. Proof: the ridges are rectangular, not semicircular.
3. Both are at least 60-80 years old. Inscription might help. Kwiatek is excellent.
4. Gentle cleaning is IMHO desirable.
5. They may (!) be coming from the workshops of Jewish jewelers, who by and large left Yemen in 1949-1950. Some were retained behind until they teach their government-assigned Arab youngsters secrets of their profession. Understandably, nothing came out of it because most of the youngsters had other plans. But that delayed the decline of the quality of decoration.

“Th- th- that’s all , folks!” ( c. Duffy Duck, PhD)

27th September 2021, 07:12 PM	#6
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	All I can say about them: 1. Both are Yemeni Janbiyas 2. Both have real blades, not modern Chinese fakes with stamped seml- blades welded to each other at the periphery and hollow inside. Proof: the ridges are rectangular, not semicircular. 3. Both are at least 60-80 years old. Inscription might help. Kwiatek is excellent. 4. Gentle cleaning is IMHO desirable. 5. They may (!) be coming from the workshops of Jewish jewelers, who by and large left Yemen in 1949-1950. Some were retained behind until they teach their government-assigned Arab youngsters secrets of their profession. Understandably, nothing came out of it because most of the youngsters had other plans. But that delayed the decline of the quality of decoration. “Th- th- that’s all , folks!” ( c. Duffy Duck, PhD) Last edited by ariel; 27th September 2021 at 07:36 PM.