Yataghans:bibliography and identification

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by mankova

Don't really know yet... I'm already searching for similar examples (form and the year) to see where are they mostly from and it really looks balkan. Especially those rivets on the light hilt with pretty large ears and leaf-shaped decoration of the blade.

Do you know this page? It;s a catalogue of THE ARMS AND ARMOURY COLLECTION from Croatian History Museum in Zagreb
http://jatagani.hismus.hr/webe/hld/katknj.htm

Actually I had not seen this, and it is most impressive as well as it appears quite comprehensive.
I am sure you are familiar with the late Professor Zdzislaw Zygulski, who was one of your greatest scholars of arms and armour. Of his many great works, he wrote "Islamic Weapons in Polish Collections and Their Provenance" (in "Islamic Arms & Armour", ed. Robert Elgood, 1979).
He was of course curator of the famed Czartoryski Museum until his passing in 2015.

I am glad to see these two yataghans being conserved, and to see this sincere approach to their history as well as more on the history of this weapon form overall.
The best thing about restoration of weapons in these conservatory conditions is that it is done carefully and with appropriate restraint as possible. That is to preserve patination and focus on stabilizing any corrosion or active deterioration and replacing components only as necessary.