Identifying horn species on a yatagan hilt

[sfenoid13]

I agree 100%! This is Rams horn. Made In Turkey. As far as I know they fry these horns before installation to protect them from worms getting to them, that’s why the color is usually odd in these and look like rhino. It’s fried

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Not an easy one I agree ...and a rams horn ...is inscribed on the blade on your second picture...so... But the grip opposed to the ears is so hacked about it is almost impossible to tell ...but I will stick to the translucency test which indicates Rhino … probably very old but there it is.

Notwithstanding the horn ..this is a great weapon and a fine example.

[ipostswords]

Thanks for your help everyone. I think ram seems to be the correct determination, it hadn't clicked ot me that the inlay was a rams head on the blade, but now I can't avoid seeing it.

I think the best way to check for sure would be to remove the handle scale and see if it has the "spaghetti stand" end grain, but I don't want to damage anything.

Even without checking the end grain, I am satified to say it's rams horn

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams sfenoid13, Well I never! That is amazing thank you indeed .. Regards Ibrahim al Balooshi.

[ariel]

I think Sfenoid13 might be correct: goat or ram horn.

Also, this is not a classical Zeibek yataghan, the blade and the metal parts of the handle are of a typical classical generic Ottoman fashion. There is no integral bolster , no T-blade so typical of Zeibek. The meaty ricasso-located plates are of a fashion often seen on Balkan examples. All together, those parts are too sophisticated for being of Zeibek origin.
However, horn plates are genuine Zeibek: they are a later replacement and even have extra holes to prove it.

[ipostswords]

Originally Posted by ariel

I think Sfenoid13 might be correct: goat or ram horn.

Also, this is not a classical Zeibek yataghan, the blade and the metal parts of the handle are of a typical classical generic Ottoman fashion. There is no integral bolster , no T-blade so typical of Zeibek. The meaty ricasso-located plates are of a fashion often seen on Balkan examples. All together, those parts are too sophisticated for being of Zeibek origin.
However, horn plates are genuine Zeibek: they are a later replacement and even have extra holes to prove it.

The blade does have a "T" spine, so there's that

[ariel]

Couldn't see it, sorry. Usually, Zeibek yataghans are very simple, with few decorations, curved ( usually not even recurved) blade, prominent T-spine and integral bolster.

[sfenoid13]

Originally Posted by ariel

I think Sfenoid13 might be correct: goat or ram horn.

Also, this is not a classical Zeibek yataghan, the blade and the metal parts of the handle are of a typical classical generic Ottoman fashion. There is no integral bolster , no T-blade so typical of Zeibek. The meaty ricasso-located plates are of a fashion often seen on Balkan examples. All together, those parts are too sophisticated for being of Zeibek origin.
However, horn plates are genuine Zeibek: they are a later replacement and even have extra holes to prove it.

I agree this is most likely not a Zeibek yatagan but an early Balkan example. The T handle seems like a later replacement , probably done in Turkey( where they fried the rams horn) ). Where did you get the Yataghan from ?

[ariel]

These are not mine, just examples from the net.

[sfenoid13]

Originally Posted by ariel

These are not mine, just examples from the net.

My question was for “ipostswords” guy..