The Tourist Item/Souvenier in arms antiquities

Jim McDougall · 14th March 2019, 04:11 AM

These are amazing entries! and it is fantastic to see truly well seasoned people in specialized fields offering these kinds of insights into the always present spectrum of 'souvenier' and tourist type ethnographic weapons.

What Ariel has said strikes a resounding chord with me,
"...it is not what objects you acquire, but what you want to learn from them".

Years ago I realized I was far more interested in the learning than to actually buy and own weapons, and that I was really an arms historian rather than collector. What became apparent was that as guys posted thier acquisitions I could research them and learn from them, thereby advancing knowledge on the example and/or form and help the owner better enjoy the item.

The weapons do communicate with us in a sense, and that is the joy of understanding history through the weapons that were there.

This view of course does not work well with modern produced weapons as there is not really history imbued in them. However, as has been noted, everyone collects with different perspective and purpose. For those interested in learning about cultures and traditions, often even weapons crafted for tourists or examples for decoration etc. .....these can serve as interesting examples to illustrate aspects of them.

The case for the khanjhar as illustated by Ibrahiim is a great example of how traditional weapons still very much actively a part of everyday life in Oman are carefully selected and commissioned to be made for each individual. These are of course different than the examples made in a more general sense to be sold to visitors, but would seem to remain of worthy quality as the importance of the weapon form traditionally would be observed.
I am not sure if my assumption here would be correct, but seemed reasonable.

As a 'non-collector' and surely not a world traveler, I do not have special expertise in this topic, but find these views of those of you who are fascinating, so thank you all.

14th March 2019, 04:11 AM	#14
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	These are amazing entries! and it is fantastic to see truly well seasoned people in specialized fields offering these kinds of insights into the always present spectrum of 'souvenier' and tourist type ethnographic weapons. What Ariel has said strikes a resounding chord with me, "...it is not what objects you acquire, but what you want to learn from them". Years ago I realized I was far more interested in the learning than to actually buy and own weapons, and that I was really an arms historian rather than collector. What became apparent was that as guys posted thier acquisitions I could research them and learn from them, thereby advancing knowledge on the example and/or form and help the owner better enjoy the item. The weapons do communicate with us in a sense, and that is the joy of understanding history through the weapons that were there. This view of course does not work well with modern produced weapons as there is not really history imbued in them. However, as has been noted, everyone collects with different perspective and purpose. For those interested in learning about cultures and traditions, often even weapons crafted for tourists or examples for decoration etc. .....these can serve as interesting examples to illustrate aspects of them. The case for the khanjhar as illustated by Ibrahiim is a great example of how traditional weapons still very much actively a part of everyday life in Oman are carefully selected and commissioned to be made for each individual. These are of course different than the examples made in a more general sense to be sold to visitors, but would seem to remain of worthy quality as the importance of the weapon form traditionally would be observed. I am not sure if my assumption here would be correct, but seemed reasonable. As a 'non-collector' and surely not a world traveler, I do not have special expertise in this topic, but find these views of those of you who are fascinating, so thank you all.