ethiopian sword/arab blade???

roanoa · 2nd January 2019, 03:14 PM

The gorade is a Solingen blade. It appears on Julius Voos catalogue of Abyssinian blades as #6. I have seen 6 so far. All of them are plain, with the exception of the one I have in my collection, which has an inscription in Amharic naming Count Leontieff as owner.

ariel · 2nd January 2019, 09:55 PM

Some of German blades have a mark G.G.

My Alzheimer’s is getting worse: forgot the meaning of this abbreviation.

Can you help?

ariel · 2nd January 2019, 09:58 PM

Re. Colored handle: not plastic, I presume?

As to Leontieff’s gurade: outstanding find!

TVV · 2nd January 2019, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

Some of German blades have a mark G.G.

My Alzheimer’s is getting worse: forgot the meaning of this abbreviation.

Can you help?

Gesetzlich Geschutzt, i.e. "Protected by Law", as in a trade mark? Sorry, I have no umlauts on my keyboard.

Martin Lubojacky · 7th January 2019, 04:27 PM

Sorry for the late answer, I was travelling a little.
First of all, thank you roanoa for the identification of the blade, I did not see it before (and thanks for reference to Julius Voos catalogue, which I also did not know).
The handle is made of plastic I think. Maybe imitation of tortoisesshell

Kubur · 7th January 2019, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

Sorry for the late answer, I was travelling a little.
First of all, thank you roanoa for the identification of the blade, I did not see it before (and thanks for reference to Julius Voos catalogue, which I also did not know).
The handle is made of plastic I think. Maybe imitation of tortoisesshell

Is it plastic or bakelite?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite
Many old jambiya have bakelite hilts... I'm pretty sure that your hilt is original...
BTW absolutely beautiful

roanoa · 7th January 2019, 11:58 PM

Hi, Martin (and everyone...). I have been playing with photoshop... and I came up with this. Julius Voos made a lot of blades for Abyssinia. The deep blue and the gold have not survived in the vast majority of the cases. The blades must have been magnificent. Other Solingen manufacturers made very similar blades and the proper identification is difficult. I based the identification of patterns 3 and 5 on the etching pattern. I have a shotel with looks pretty close to the first from the right, but I saw a drawing in an Eickhorn catalogue that looks almost identical, so I cannot be sure. Does anyone have a better picture of the Voos catalogue? Does anyone have other patterns of Voos blades? There is near mint example of pattern #2 in an Austrian Museum. I have to find the picture and post it. Cheers, RON

roanoa · 8th January 2019, 12:31 AM

Found the picture of Voos #2 pattern.... Santa, where are you??

Martin Lubojacky · 8th January 2019, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roanoa

Hi, Martin (and everyone...). I have been playing with photoshop... and I came up with this. Julius Voos made a lot of blades for Abyssinia. The deep blue and the gold have not survived in the vast majority of the cases. The blades must have been magnificent. Other Solingen manufacturers made very similar blades and the proper identification is difficult. I based the identification of patterns 3 and 5 on the etching pattern. I have a shotel with looks pretty close to the first from the right, but I saw a drawing in an Eickhorn catalogue that looks almost identical, so I cannot be sure. Does anyone have a better picture of the Voos catalogue? Does anyone have other patterns of Voos blades? There is near mint example of pattern #2 in an Austrian Museum. I have to find the picture and post it. Cheers, RON

Hi, thank you for the Voos catalogue pictures again. For me it is enlightening and a little surprise that the shapes Nos 4, 5 and 1 were delivered from Solingen. (I saw shape No 4 two times only in 25 years and always mounted with brass handle. And shape No 1 once only without handle, heavily rusty...)

Martin Lubojacky · 8th January 2019, 06:49 AM

I am not 100 % sure, nevertheless I think it is bakelite.

And it is original mount for sure.

As you recalled, bakelite was also used for the hilts. That time ordinary people looked at utility function first of all, which was perfect, and these artefacts have their historical value, now.

roanoa · 8th January 2019, 11:55 PM

A couple of comments. The grip (Martin, do you actually have the sword?) looks like burl to me. I can see a couple of tiny cracks on the top flares. But I could be wrong. Bakelite was indeed very popular in Europe at the beginning of the last century, but all the grips I have seen are solid black. I have swords with wood grips covered with thick "plastic" that look like solid plastic. They are blackish green. So, Martin, if you have the sword at hand, you can answer the question. Then, this blade pattern is quite intriguing. When I started collecting Ethiopian blades (MANY years ago) I was offered one of these swords by a dealer from Rome. I turned it down as I thought that it had been "made up" with an Indo-Persian/Caucasic blade.... Years later I came across the Voos catalogue. Since then, I have seen four. One with the greenish black grip. One unbelievable Damascus blade with gold decoration and inscription (in the hands of a Russian collector). The latest one to surface was on Ebay a couple of months ago. European style grip. Here it is. Cheers, Ron

Martin Lubojacky · 9th January 2019, 11:35 AM

I would say it is really bakelite. (There were various colour combinations developped for jewellery producers that time... )

2nd January 2019, 03:14 PM	#1
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	The gorade is a Solingen blade. It appears on Julius Voos catalogue of Abyssinian blades as #6. I have seen 6 so far. All of them are plain, with the exception of the one I have in my collection, which has an inscription in Amharic naming Count Leontieff as owner. Attached Images

7th January 2019, 11:58 PM	#7
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	Hi, Martin (and everyone...). I have been playing with photoshop... and I came up with this. Julius Voos made a lot of blades for Abyssinia. The deep blue and the gold have not survived in the vast majority of the cases. The blades must have been magnificent. Other Solingen manufacturers made very similar blades and the proper identification is difficult. I based the identification of patterns 3 and 5 on the etching pattern. I have a shotel with looks pretty close to the first from the right, but I saw a drawing in an Eickhorn catalogue that looks almost identical, so I cannot be sure. Does anyone have a better picture of the Voos catalogue? Does anyone have other patterns of Voos blades? There is near mint example of pattern #2 in an Austrian Museum. I have to find the picture and post it. Cheers, RON Attached Images

8th January 2019, 12:31 AM	#8
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	Found the picture of Voos #2 pattern.... Santa, where are you?? Attached Images

8th January 2019, 11:55 PM	#11
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	A couple of comments. The grip (Martin, do you actually have the sword?) looks like burl to me. I can see a couple of tiny cracks on the top flares. But I could be wrong. Bakelite was indeed very popular in Europe at the beginning of the last century, but all the grips I have seen are solid black. I have swords with wood grips covered with thick "plastic" that look like solid plastic. They are blackish green. So, Martin, if you have the sword at hand, you can answer the question. Then, this blade pattern is quite intriguing. When I started collecting Ethiopian blades (MANY years ago) I was offered one of these swords by a dealer from Rome. I turned it down as I thought that it had been "made up" with an Indo-Persian/Caucasic blade.... Years later I came across the Voos catalogue. Since then, I have seen four. One with the greenish black grip. One unbelievable Damascus blade with gold decoration and inscription (in the hands of a Russian collector). The latest one to surface was on Ebay a couple of months ago. European style grip. Here it is. Cheers, Ron Attached Images

9th January 2019, 11:35 AM	#12
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 845	I would say it is really bakelite. (There were various colour combinations developped for jewellery producers that time... ) Attached Images

2nd January 2019, 09:55 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Some of German blades have a mark G.G. My Alzheimer’s is getting worse: forgot the meaning of this abbreviation. Can you help?

2nd January 2019, 09:58 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Re. Colored handle: not plastic, I presume? As to Leontieff’s gurade: outstanding find!

7th January 2019, 04:27 PM	#5
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 845	Sorry for the late answer, I was travelling a little. First of all, thank you roanoa for the identification of the blade, I did not see it before (and thanks for reference to Julius Voos catalogue, which I also did not know). The handle is made of plastic I think. Maybe imitation of tortoisesshell

8th January 2019, 06:49 AM	#10
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 845	I am not 100 % sure, nevertheless I think it is bakelite. And it is original mount for sure. As you recalled, bakelite was also used for the hilts. That time ordinary people looked at utility function first of all, which was perfect, and these artefacts have their historical value, now.