Afghan Pulourar Sabre/Scabbard Upgrade

[Ian]

Yes, Philip does some excellent work. I'm hoping he will tell us more about the leather and where it came from. I suspect it is quite old and is recycled from something unrelated to weapons.

[mariusgmioc]

Hello Rick,

I opened your message, just looked at the pictures and thought: what a beautiful Afghan pulowar complete with original scabbard...

Then I read your comment and realised that to my surprise, the scabbard was restored...

But wow, it is so well done that I wouldn't have guessed in a thousand years it was restored.

Philip is a real artist!

[Sajen]

Very good job!

[rickystl]

I found the two pics. After the thin velvet material was removed, here is what was wrapped around a portion of the wood......LOL

Rick

[kahnjar1]

Hi Rick,
Don't know if you investigated those labels.....here is a link to Indore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indore
and to Ballantines Ale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Bal...rewing_Company
Stu

[Philip]

Wow, so we are able to put a place and hopefully a range of dates on the labels. Am glad I took those pics before I installed the leather. And that Ricky saved them when I attached them to an email, I no longer have them in my iPhone's photo file!

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by Philip

Wow, so we are able to put a place and hopefully a range of dates on the labels. Am glad I took those pics before I installed the leather. And that Ricky saved them when I attached them to an email, I no longer have them in my iPhone's photo file!

I found some nice Japanese papers wrapped around the tang of a wakizashi, these little finds are so interesting.

Rick, you have also a label of US Ballantine beer!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Bal...rewing_Company

Papers travel fast and Indian or US labels don't mean a lot, unless you have some dates on them.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Ian

Yes, Philip does some excellent work. I'm hoping he will tell us more about the leather and where it came from. I suspect it is quite old and is recycled from something unrelated to weapons.

Thanks, Ian. I like to use salvaged antique material whenever possible ,but often, it is not dimensionally compatible with the project (especially when applied to a curved slender object with a considerable expanse of material required between fittings. There are other issues as well -- fragility, and old crease lines on the salvaged stock that would be incongruous on the thing to be re-covered.

I used to e able to get some wonderful morocco-grained goat leather that was an excellent match for old shagreen as re texture, and it came in black and dark green which was perfect for virtually all Near Eastern and Chinese scabbard jobs. But the importer quit handling it. On this pulouar, I had some similar stuff that I got from a supplier that provides materials for restorers of vintage and antique cameras and optical equipment -- binocs, spyglasses, and their cases. It's thin and the surface is hard to the touch, like the originals. The downside is that it has virtually no "stretch" to it, unlike the goat I used to use previously, so forming it around a curved sheat can be tricky if you want to avoid wrinkles. But I have ways to address that and it "distresses" very well for a nice antique effect.

[shayde78]

Originally Posted by Philip

Thanks, Ian. I like to use salvaged antique material whenever possible ,but often, it is not dimensionally compatible with the project (especially when applied to a curved slender object with a considerable expanse of material required between fittings. There are other issues as well -- fragility, and old crease lines on the salvaged stock that would be incongruous on the thing to be re-covered.

I used to e able to get some wonderful morocco-grained goat leather that was an excellent match for old shagreen as re texture, and it came in black and dark green which was perfect for virtually all Near Eastern and Chinese scabbard jobs. But the importer quit handling it. On this pulouar, I had some similar stuff that I got from a supplier that provides materials for restorers of vintage and antique cameras and optical equipment -- binocs, spyglasses, and their cases. It's thin and the surface is hard to the touch, like the originals. The downside is that it has virtually no "stretch" to it, unlike the goat I used to use previously, so forming it around a curved sheat can be tricky if you want to avoid wrinkles. But I have ways to address that and it "distresses" very well for a nice antique effect.

Truly a masterful job!