Please help to ID a mark on Yataghan.

Jim McDougall · 16th October 2011, 08:28 PM

Fascinated by the topic at hand, and particularly Malta, could not resist looking further into the history which may be imbued in the aged patina of these two swords. The Order of Malta has a long proud history, and their conflicts with the Ottomans extended fare beyond the Seige in 1565. The fleet contributed to the destruction of the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto in 1571. I have attached illustrations of a ship of the fleet of the Order in combat with at Ottoman ship off Alger in 1719.
The history of the Meditteranean would be far less colorful without tales of the Barbary pirates, and these weapons, despite probably being of later date than hoped, as mentioned certainly are likely to be from this period in the early 19th century. The unfortunate condition (now wonderfully resolved) these weapons were found in makes it difficult to assess actual age by photos, but it seems by visual features these correspond to 19th century examples from what I can see.

16th October 2011, 08:28 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,253	Fascinated by the topic at hand, and particularly Malta, could not resist looking further into the history which may be imbued in the aged patina of these two swords. The Order of Malta has a long proud history, and their conflicts with the Ottomans extended fare beyond the Seige in 1565. The fleet contributed to the destruction of the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto in 1571. I have attached illustrations of a ship of the fleet of the Order in combat with at Ottoman ship off Alger in 1719. The history of the Meditteranean would be far less colorful without tales of the Barbary pirates, and these weapons, despite probably being of later date than hoped, as mentioned certainly are likely to be from this period in the early 19th century. The unfortunate condition (now wonderfully resolved) these weapons were found in makes it difficult to assess actual age by photos, but it seems by visual features these correspond to 19th century examples from what I can see. Attached Images Last edited by Jim McDougall; 16th October 2011 at 09:15 PM.