Omani Matchlock

[Berkley]

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing it with us.
What are the two brass containers on the stock just ahead of the coiled match?

[kahnjar1]

Hi Berkley, The "containers" are designed to hold the lighted match end. The one with the holes/vents is designed to safely hold a LIGHTED match while the other with no holes is to extinguish the lighted match. A very crafty thing to keep things safe when in use.
From photos I have seen, these "containers" vary in size/shape. They are NOT permanently attached to the stock of the gun. They are held in place by the match cord wound around the stock.
Stu

[Berkley]

Very clever and functional.

[A.alnakkas]

Very nice! I see similar ones often here... many gun collectors in Kuwait compared to swords and they have the same jambiya 'personal' feeling to them lovely items.

As for the name; Abu Fatila being translated to 'father of the match' is abit literal. A more accurate translation to this name is 'the one with the match' as 'abu' is also used to refer to a property or 'thing' about the person/object.

example: Abu khashm can be translated 'the father of the nose' which is silly but literal. Or translated as 'the one with the nose' which is accurate to the purpose of the Arab word (generally used as a comment for people with odd noses :-)

[kahnjar1]

Hi Lofty,
Thanks for the comments and particularly the corrected translation. Interested to know that these are often seen in Kuwait. I seem to remember that a certain dealer not far from you was expounding the extreme rarity and huge value of these things! I assume from your comments that this may not be true. Anyway I am most pleased with the one I now have.
Stu

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Hi Lofty,
Thanks for the comments and particularly the corrected translation. Interested to know that these are often seen in Kuwait. I seem to remember that a certain dealer not far from you was expounding the extreme rarity and huge value of these things! I assume from your comments that this may not be true. Anyway I am most pleased with the one I now have.
Stu

Salaams Khanjar1 ~ The translation is excellent indeed and I remember the same lesson I learned from A.alnakkas a long time ago..."The one with" ... but refering to the item in general... Khanjar1 these are not common items....believe me. I have been collecting for many years so I have retained a few plus I have some barrels and some quarter barrels which most likely disintegrated on firing with the wrong charge. Good ones are very very rare. You could wander the souks in Oman and maybe see a couple in the entire system.. I don't speak of price here but a PM to me will reveal to you what "CURRENTLY" museums and collectors will pay for these. I include a couple of powder horn (Talaahiq) variants one in silver the other gazelle horn which have stopped being produced though I have the pattern.( from Richardson and Dorr "Omani Herritage" ) The other interesting items are the "made up charge and bullet containers" in brass that fit in a cross body bandolier.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[kahnjar1]

Thanks Ibrahiim. I am (I think) well aware of the value of these Matchlocks as a website was quoting prices up until recently.
I also own a nice silver and gold Talahiq as shown here.
Stu