Identifying this sword ? (please take a look)

ariel · 28th October 2006, 10:38 PM

Artzi is an E.F. Hutton of Oriental swords: when he talks, people listen

Here is my Zanzibar with a typical D-ring and silver-chased horn hilt. It is followed by a somewhat rarer South Arabia sword: also with Nimcha-type handle, clipped quillons and a typical 2-color scabbard. It is inlaid with low-grade silver chased panels and embellished with coins.
Artzi, what do you think?

Philip · 29th October 2006, 07:09 AM

Gentlemen
Great pictures of various specimens of Zanzibar sabers!

Some years ago, the noted London antiquarian Robert Hales collected these and we had a talk about them when I was in his shop one day. He believed that the lateral rings that form part of the guard (which differentiate this form of "sayf" from the more familiar Moroccan nimcha") are a common feature on many European sword hilts of the 15th cent., and were a design element probably picked up as a result of the incursions of the Portuguese in the region at end of the 1400s, and into the next century.

tom hyle · 30th October 2006, 04:21 PM

AFAIK the Moorocan swords are, like these S. Arabian/Swahili versions, natively known as saif/sayf. Certainly the relation between the two types is undeniably very close indeed, and there seems to be a certain amount of sharing with other Arabian sabres and those guardless Berbese ones that commonly have a hole thru the pommel.

Hrthuma ibn Marwan · 30th October 2006, 07:16 PM

Thank you good fellows.
Very interesting to read what you have to say indeed. Alot is learned.

Thank you again

frequent · 31st October 2006, 06:36 AM

that sewing of leather on the scabbard in the first pictures looks nice is it common on weapons?

Philip · 31st October 2006, 06:59 AM

The leather covering and its stitching on this specimen looks new, based on its style and the rather smooth and clean condition of the surface. Antique scabbards from this part of the Middle East (Arabian Peninsula, and the Ottoman Empire) are typically covered with a type of leather with a granular, bumpy texture to it (the hide is usually from the donkey), the seam stitched with fine brass or silver wire in tight coils.

My experience with these Zanzibar sabers is that the seam is frequently glued. On the better examples, the leather is quite thin, and is carefully tooled to conform to delicate ribbing and other designs incised into the wooden scabbard body.

28th October 2006, 10:38 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Artzi is an E.F. Hutton of Oriental swords: when he talks, people listen Here is my Zanzibar with a typical D-ring and silver-chased horn hilt. It is followed by a somewhat rarer South Arabia sword: also with Nimcha-type handle, clipped quillons and a typical 2-color scabbard. It is inlaid with low-grade silver chased panels and embellished with coins. Artzi, what do you think? Attached Images Last edited by ariel; 28th October 2006 at 10:49 PM.

29th October 2006, 07:09 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Portuguese influence Gentlemen Great pictures of various specimens of Zanzibar sabers! Some years ago, the noted London antiquarian Robert Hales collected these and we had a talk about them when I was in his shop one day. He believed that the lateral rings that form part of the guard (which differentiate this form of "sayf" from the more familiar Moroccan nimcha") are a common feature on many European sword hilts of the 15th cent., and were a design element probably picked up as a result of the incursions of the Portuguese in the region at end of the 1400s, and into the next century.

31st October 2006, 06:59 AM	#6
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	scabbard stitching The leather covering and its stitching on this specimen looks new, based on its style and the rather smooth and clean condition of the surface. Antique scabbards from this part of the Middle East (Arabian Peninsula, and the Ottoman Empire) are typically covered with a type of leather with a granular, bumpy texture to it (the hide is usually from the donkey), the seam stitched with fine brass or silver wire in tight coils. My experience with these Zanzibar sabers is that the seam is frequently glued. On the better examples, the leather is quite thin, and is carefully tooled to conform to delicate ribbing and other designs incised into the wooden scabbard body.

30th October 2006, 04:21 PM	#3
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	AFAIK the Moorocan swords are, like these S. Arabian/Swahili versions, natively known as saif/sayf. Certainly the relation between the two types is undeniably very close indeed, and there seems to be a certain amount of sharing with other Arabian sabres and those guardless Berbese ones that commonly have a hole thru the pommel.

30th October 2006, 07:16 PM	#4
Hrthuma ibn Marwan Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in my study Posts: 18	Thank you good fellows. Very interesting to read what you have to say indeed. Alot is learned. Thank you again

31st October 2006, 06:36 AM	#5
frequent Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 7	that sewing of leather on the scabbard in the first pictures looks nice is it common on weapons?