Jambiya thouma

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Virtually no Jewish artisans remained in Yemen after the 1949/1950 airlift to Israel. Jambiya from Yemen made after that date were almost certainly made by Muslims, or the few Jews who converted to Islam. I suppose it is possible my jambiya was made in Israel, but I think not.

Remember also that Muslims are forbidden to decorate with representational images (e.g., faces).

=Kubar
And the filigree work looks very different from the filigree work posted by Oriental Arms.

The Tuza is a unique type of filigree. See sources cited earlier.

=Kubar
The stamp at the back is a silver proof? Do they still use this silver proof in Yemen?


According to the resources I have (see links to documents to download elsewhere in this thread), artisans were forbidden in Yemen to sign their work in any manner after 1920.

I have not had this item tested for metallurgy.

Thanks for the questions.

Best,

Dave A.

Hi Dave, I have seen this type of blade decoration before also and cannot comment as to the origin of it. Possibly added later???
Regarding the "proof" stamp. Have a look under the backing leather if you can. I suspect that the "stamp" is in fact a separate piece of metal/silver. IF this was a makers STAMP then it would be just that....a stamp into the metal of the scabbard, and not attached later. (See example below) I have never heard of silver proofing in Yemen, but that is not to say that it did not happen.
Regards Stu