New/Modern Uzbek Pchak

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by ALEX

Mahratt, Thanks! This crossed my mind also. Mechanically, the blade does look Indian, although tiger-eye/raindrop are more common Indian patterns, and this one is more 'ladder-oriented'. The shape of the blade is also not typical Indian, and it is also heat-treated, hardened and sharp, whereas most modern Indian made blades are soft and dull. I thought it was made elsewhere as it does not look Uzbek blade as well as pattern.

Indian workshops make knife blades of any imaginable form these days. So do some workshops in Pakistan.

This blade is of modern, bowie shape and does not match any ethnographic blade I know (the closest match would be some old English Sheffield Bowie knives from around 1900). And the fact that it was hand made and has an ethnographically inspired scabbard does not make it an ethnographic knife. It is a nice and collectible modern hunting knife, but definitely not an ethnographic Uzbek pichak!

Just Google for images "antique Sheffield bowie knife" and you'll find many with very similar blade.

In response to Tim's message, I can say that I had quite a few knives with similar blades but the mechanical qualities of the blades were pathetically poor... incomparably worse than my stainless steel Chinese kitchen knives...