Older Hijaz-Asir Wahabi Jambiya for Comment

[kahnjar1]

Your piece is a DHARIA dagger in the RASHAQ style and comes , as you say, from Asir/Hijaz area of Western Arabia. The term "wahabite" is a loose description used by (mainly) collectors and dealers to describe this type of long dagger.
I agree with Lew that the age of this is probably midish 20th Century 1940s to 1950s. They are not uncommon, in fact if you look, there are at least 2 on a well known auction site.
Pic attached of one I have in my collection. PM me if you wish to discuss anything "off line".
Regards Stuart

[laEspadaAncha]

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for chiming in... I have to admit I was rather confident in the placement of age a little earlier based on the patina and wear to/on the scabbard and I am a little disappointed to hear I might have missed the date attribution as much as I did...

I am grateful to learn the proper terms for this particular form and style - something I didn't encounter in the several threads I had researched prior to my purchase.

I'm sending a PM, but as my box will be full, I am including my email addy so as to pick up the conversation off-site... I found one of the ones offered for sale, but can't find the other.

For my own edification, what stylistic cues differentiate earlier (say 1st quarter 20th C) dharias from later (i.e., 2nd quarter 20th C) examples? And is Tirri occupying precious space on my bookshelf as an encyclopedic paperweight?

[Dom]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Your piece is a DHARIA dagger in the RASHAQ style and comes , as you say, from Asir/Hijaz area of Western Arabia. The term "wahabite" is a loose description used by (mainly) collectors and dealers to describe this type of long dagger.

Hi Stu
you are correct, there is a dichotomy between
- Asir/Hijaz - it's a region, close to the western coast
- Wahabism - has it's roots in Najd region, in the central region of the KSA



à +

Dom