Armenian? Georgian? silver dagger

Andreas · 2nd December 2016, 08:19 AM

Armenian, I think.

Martin Lubojacky · 2nd December 2016, 01:09 PM

I don´t know and I would say acc. to inscription. ....

Nevertheless here is relatively similar dagger, min 100 years old, comming from Rhodos .... (the blade is very used)

Oliver Pinchot · 2nd December 2016, 03:38 PM

It's Armenian, Eftis

Battara · 2nd December 2016, 04:24 PM

What a nice piece!

I love it!

arsendaday · 2nd December 2016, 08:57 PM

It's definitely Armenian. Can you post the whole inscription in one photo. I will try to translate for you. A clearer photo will be better, if possible of course.

eftihis · 4th December 2016, 10:48 AM

I hope is clear enough!

motan · 5th December 2016, 06:27 PM

Hi, I agree that the letters look Armenian (though I don't read any Armenian), but the looks is very Ottoman/Greek. Theoretically, this would point towards Eastern Armenia (Cilicia), which was in the center of the Ottoman empire, not far from the south-west Turkey, which a large Greek population. I don't no similar examples, so this is purely guessing.

arsendaday · 5th December 2016, 11:54 PM

Here it is eftihis.

There is only one letter/word that I couldn't see clearly, but the meaning won't suffer from it.

So literally it says: "To the enjoyment of Ayvazyan M/I Yakob and Mkhi." It is clearly a gift inscription that was presented to most likely father and son Ayvazyans. The word M/I is what I couldn't figure out; could be a nickname or a title. IMHO I think they were father and son, because while Yakob is a full name, Mkhi is a short version of a name only used for friends or little kids and since it was included in the inscription, I think that he was somebody important too.

In my opinion the dagger was made somewhere in the Ottoman Empire (maybe late 19th, early 20th century) and it was custom ordered from an Armenian silversmith/weapon-smith for an Armenian person. The reason I think the smith was Armenian is because the inscription is done in repousse, meaning it was done before the dagger was assembled together and I doubt that any Armenian national in the Ottoman Empire would ever order an Armenian inscription from weapon masters who are not Armenian.

It is a great piece and must have cost a fortune in its day.

2nd December 2016, 01:09 PM	#2
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 843	I don´t know and I would say acc. to inscription. .... Nevertheless here is relatively similar dagger, min 100 years old, comming from Rhodos .... (the blade is very used) Attached Images

4th December 2016, 10:48 AM	#6
eftihis Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Chania Crete Greece Posts: 511	Whole inscription I hope is clear enough! Attached Images

5th December 2016, 06:27 PM	#7
motan Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Jerusalem Posts: 274	Very nice, but puzzeling Hi, I agree that the letters look Armenian (though I don't read any Armenian), but the looks is very Ottoman/Greek. Theoretically, this would point towards Eastern Armenia (Cilicia), which was in the center of the Ottoman empire, not far from the south-west Turkey, which a large Greek population. I don't no similar examples, so this is purely guessing.

2nd December 2016, 08:19 AM	#1
Andreas Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Ionian Islands, Greece Posts: 96	Armenian, I think.

2nd December 2016, 03:38 PM	#3
Oliver Pinchot Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 465	It's Armenian, Eftis

2nd December 2016, 04:24 PM	#4
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,280	What a nice piece! I love it!

2nd December 2016, 08:57 PM	#5
arsendaday Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 44	It's definitely Armenian. Can you post the whole inscription in one photo. I will try to translate for you. A clearer photo will be better, if possible of course.

5th December 2016, 11:54 PM	#8
arsendaday Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 44	Here it is eftihis. There is only one letter/word that I couldn't see clearly, but the meaning won't suffer from it. So literally it says: "To the enjoyment of Ayvazyan M/I Yakob and Mkhi." It is clearly a gift inscription that was presented to most likely father and son Ayvazyans. The word M/I is what I couldn't figure out; could be a nickname or a title. IMHO I think they were father and son, because while Yakob is a full name, Mkhi is a short version of a name only used for friends or little kids and since it was included in the inscription, I think that he was somebody important too. In my opinion the dagger was made somewhere in the Ottoman Empire (maybe late 19th, early 20th century) and it was custom ordered from an Armenian silversmith/weapon-smith for an Armenian person. The reason I think the smith was Armenian is because the inscription is done in repousse, meaning it was done before the dagger was assembled together and I doubt that any Armenian national in the Ottoman Empire would ever order an Armenian inscription from weapon masters who are not Armenian. It is a great piece and must have cost a fortune in its day.