Is this wootz?

[mariusgmioc]

I have been involved in a debate on another forum whether the sword in the photos has a wootz blade or not.
It would be interesting to hear your opinions!

[kronckew]

Doesn't look wootzy, more like pattern welded, sometimes called Damascus.
It was used in European presentation swords quite often. Are there any inscriptions or decorations on the blade?

[Sajen]

Hi Marius,
Pattern welded, no wootz IMVHO!

Regards,
Detlef

[mariusgmioc]

Thank you for your opinions!
That's exactly what I also said: pattern welded.

[Ian]

I agree with Sajen and kronckew. Not wootz, but a rather attractive laminated pattern that shows good contrast. Nice blade.

[Rick]

The pattern almost looks like an image I saved from one of the Hubble telescope pictures.

Cosmic.

[Copycat]

Wootz. Pattern is pretty organic.

[Lee]

Not wootz, but coarsely laminated steel (often called pattern-welded or Damascus). Handout from a demonstration I did years ago.

[Ian]

Lee, thanks for that PDf file! An excellent summary and very much valid here.

The pattern in the original post (OP) of this thread shows clear and sharply profiled laminations, as illustrated in Lee's article. Wootz patterns may resemble the patterns found in the OP but the key difference, at least for me, is the much "softer" appearance of wootz patterns as they blend with the background steel. This is to be expected from the different manner in which bloomery steel is created and worked. Wootz patterns derive from different crystalline structures within the original billet.

Laminated blades are derived from different pieces of iron and steel, thus creating distinct boundaries between the steel pieces. Different structural components in the various pieces give rise to the patterns observed. Many times, such differences in composition give rise to clear margins for the different components, thus distinguishing the pattern-welded forms from wootz.

The OP here is clearly a pattern-welded, laminated construction. There are, however, examples of pattern-welded forms that are more difficult to distinguish from wootz.

Ian.

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,
I apologise for being late to this party. I think this is more likely to be wootz than laminated. We are only dealing with a small number of photographs which make it hard to be sure, but here are my thoughts:

1. The way this blade is mounted tells me that it is not of European origin with a conventional tang. It has been mounted at a later date with the British style hilt using two plates to grip the blade at the ricasso and hold it secure. You often see this mounting style on Eastern blades which have been later placed in European hilts. This makes it more likely to be wootz.

2. The laminations aren't continuous and in my opinion do have the "softer" terminations and edges you do see in wootz.

It isn't any of the "typical" wootz patterns you see, but is more likely to be wootz, than not.
Cheers,
Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,
As further evidence, here is a photo comparing this blade on the right, with a wootz shamshir in my collection on the left. Looks pretty similar to me.
Cheers,
Bryce