Fake blades from India and China

ariel · 17th April 2016, 01:57 AM

Well, as we all know, there are literally hundreds and thousands of arms and armor pieces coming from India to e-bay, and from there being re-sold all over.

There are 3 major groups: rusty and often broken tulwar handles and daggers of unknown purpose; combination pieces, mainly old and rusty handle ( see above) and newly-made blade; and flagrantly new and pretentiously lavish objects that are presented as "old", "antique", "mughal" etc.

Yes, India just like China bans exportation of antiques. But being a democratic country, Indian laws and punishments are likely to be not as draconian as in China. Thus, it must be easier and safer for them to mail real antiques of lesser or absent historical value.

As to the "lavish" ones, one needs to remember that what seems to be lavish to us, is likely to be dirt cheap to manufacture in India due to their low labor costs. Also, there are plenty of highly qualified masters capable of doing really good job for very little money. And, finally, asking prices are rising like crazy: what was offered for $10 several years ago, nowadays is offered for hundreds and thousands. Although many items can be bought with an offer not exceeding 10-20% of the listing price, giving a good idea of their intended profit margin.

In my experience, 99.999% of really good and old stuff comes from Europe/USA ( likely originally also from Europe) as remnants of the colonial era. IMHO, buying antique weapons from India is foolish: one will end either with a piece of junk of with a newly-made souvenir.

17th April 2016, 01:57 AM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Well, as we all know, there are literally hundreds and thousands of arms and armor pieces coming from India to e-bay, and from there being re-sold all over. There are 3 major groups: rusty and often broken tulwar handles and daggers of unknown purpose; combination pieces, mainly old and rusty handle ( see above) and newly-made blade; and flagrantly new and pretentiously lavish objects that are presented as "old", "antique", "mughal" etc. Yes, India just like China bans exportation of antiques. But being a democratic country, Indian laws and punishments are likely to be not as draconian as in China. Thus, it must be easier and safer for them to mail real antiques of lesser or absent historical value. As to the "lavish" ones, one needs to remember that what seems to be lavish to us, is likely to be dirt cheap to manufacture in India due to their low labor costs. Also, there are plenty of highly qualified masters capable of doing really good job for very little money. And, finally, asking prices are rising like crazy: what was offered for $10 several years ago, nowadays is offered for hundreds and thousands. Although many items can be bought with an offer not exceeding 10-20% of the listing price, giving a good idea of their intended profit margin. In my experience, 99.999% of really good and old stuff comes from Europe/USA ( likely originally also from Europe) as remnants of the colonial era. IMHO, buying antique weapons from India is foolish: one will end either with a piece of junk of with a newly-made souvenir.