Persian Qajar Dagger

[Battara]

My understanding of patina is the oxidation on the surface that is not corrosive.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by Battara

My understanding of patina is the oxidation on the surface that is not corrosive.

YES SIR
otherwise, the other things are;
stains, rust, dirt, ultimately ... shit ...

here a serial of pics, it's a "shula" dagger from Morocco
not a great value, but for me not a reason to don't respected it

at least, I like it more after be refurbished;
- some linseed oil for the handle, to feed the ram's horn
- polishing copper
- some wax to feed the leather of the scabbard
- with very fine steel wool pad, cleaning of the blade, then treatment with "Renaissance" products to prevent the corrosion

I don't feel that I'm destroying the marks of the past, it's just to restore a dignity, it would NEVER ... have lost

à +

Dom

[A.alnakkas]

I have seen this on ebay and wanted to bid on it. The craftmanship is excellent and Dom is right, it did have patina in the auction photos if I remember correctly.

Now the decoration is defintly good and the blade appears to be well made certainly not like the new indian stuff but the shape of the whole piece is unlike any Qajar piece I have seen..

It is possible that its Indian work but real work, not touristy. One thing for sure Indians borrow art from Persians so its all possible.

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

I have seen this on ebay and wanted to bid on it. The craftmanship is excellent and Dom is right, it did have patina in the auction photos if I remember correctly.

Now the decoration is defintly good and the blade appears to be well made certainly not like the new indian stuff but the shape of the whole piece is unlike any Qajar piece I have seen..

It is possible that its Indian work but real work, not touristy. One thing for sure Indians borrow art from Persians so its all possible.

Hi Lotfy

I absolutely agree that the craftsmanship on the chiseled decoration of the scabbard and hilt is 1st rate.
BUT! Stylistically it reminds me of the work of the Indian silversmiths of Calcutta.
It just doesn't look like Qajar work to me at all.

I've had a look at the original eBay auction:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-ISLA...item20cdd92501
The 'patina' such as it was, still looks 'new' to me.
Even in a few decades, bare steel will darken, but I don't see any evidence of that on this dagger.
Even on the blade I can't see any indications of repeated drawing and withdrawing having left 'polished' lines on the grey etched surface.
In my humble experience that configuration of suspension loops would be more indicative of modern Arabian Jambiya rather than Qajar Khanjar.
It doesn't look to follow the usual method of being 'tucked into' a sash or belt hung from, as we'd usually see. It looks like it should be tied over a belt like some Jambiya.

Here is an example of a chiseled steel dagger of the Qajar style showing the type of style and patina that I'd expect.
Someone please come and show me another example of a dagger of the type that Dom has with concrete provenance?

[Dom]

Hi
Thanks Lotfi to have give yours comments, and appreciations

strange as the others are very silence ??

also ... a small up, for a translation of a text in "farsi" Thanks

à +

Dom