Ottoman Pala

ariel · 24th January 2008, 04:50 PM

I am not saying the blade is new/replaced: it fits the scabbard very well. Taking into account the complexity of this particular scabbard and the need to create custom scabbards for each individual blade ( to account for the curve), I am sure that the blade is authentic.
The inscription, IMHO, is very recent, however.
So, the question will be: does a Kilij/Pala with a sumptuos furniture but with an unembellished, likely unmarked, blade justify such a high price? I think, yes. Not long ago, a somewhat similar sword, with (likely) ruined blade but with gorgeous furniture was sold for ~$20K. It was bought purely for the scabbard.
The price is a matter for the buyer: perhaps, he has a client to whom he can resell it for twice as much.
The real question is: is it legitimate to embellish blades with inscriptions to make it more attractive but in exchange to cloud the origins of the sword for future research ? If, as I suspect, the koftgari is new, the true origins of this Pala are now contaminated with erroneous information.

24th January 2008, 04:50 PM	#6
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I am not saying the blade is new/replaced: it fits the scabbard very well. Taking into account the complexity of this particular scabbard and the need to create custom scabbards for each individual blade ( to account for the curve), I am sure that the blade is authentic. The inscription, IMHO, is very recent, however. So, the question will be: does a Kilij/Pala with a sumptuos furniture but with an unembellished, likely unmarked, blade justify such a high price? I think, yes. Not long ago, a somewhat similar sword, with (likely) ruined blade but with gorgeous furniture was sold for ~$20K. It was bought purely for the scabbard. The price is a matter for the buyer: perhaps, he has a client to whom he can resell it for twice as much. The real question is: is it legitimate to embellish blades with inscriptions to make it more attractive but in exchange to cloud the origins of the sword for future research ? If, as I suspect, the koftgari is new, the true origins of this Pala are now contaminated with erroneous information.