Turkish knife for ID, comment

[Gustav]

Yes, a Laz Bichak from south eastern Black Sea region.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Gustav

Yes, a Laz Bichak from south eastern Black Sea region.

Agreed!

[DaveA]

Thank you both You’ve given me the info I needed to remember. This was a forlorn gem among a collection of various contemporary knives at an estate auction. No one bid against me. I feel like I rescued an old dog when everyone else was taking home the puppies.

Any ideas about identifying the hilt material? It resembles a saifani hilt on a jambiya from Yemen in my collection.

Dave A.

[DaveA]

With your info, I was able to locate my notes on this bichak from about a year ago. It is from the Laz people in the region of Sürmene in the eastern Anatolian peninsula along the eastern Black Sea near Georgia.

Sürmene was a center of edged weapons manufacture for a long time and it is continuing today. Once worn by Laz pirates on the Black Sea, the Laz people and Pontians also used the bichak for duel fighting and a dance called the “knife horon.”

Thanks again for the reminder!

Dave

[gp]

reminds me or looks similar like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PASsQlUXFGI

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by gp

reminds me or looks similar like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PASsQlUXFGI

Very interesting! This might be the closest match to the size and shape. A few differences. I am not yet comfortable with the bichak ID. I have five other bichak, but only the Bukaran bichak of these has an upswept tip profile.

Time to do more research. Thanks for the lead.

Dave A