Omani Matchlock

[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.