Another Bosnian Dagger

[TVV]

Jim,
Your observations are most interesting, as always. Since the dotted circle is a simple symbol, I wonder is the craftsmen in Bosnia did not arrive at it on their own, as it is really hard to see any link between ancient China and late 19th century Bosnia.
I have been told by contemporary craftsmen in Bulgaria (who decorate replica gun stocks), that the circle is hard to make. In many of the decorative circles there is more than just a dot, usually three triangles and it would resemble a nuclear symbol. Much of the decoration on Balkan arms is based on the intricate arrangement of simple geometric forms into brass rosettes. I have attached a picture illustrating how this works from a Bulgarian book dedicated to antique Balkan firerams, and a picture of the decoration on an actual rifle, where a solar motif is clearly visible in silver.
My personal opinion is that in the so called Islamic Baroque style, a solar motif was a bit intuitive to the craftsmen, who were limited in their expression by the use of simple geometric forms.
Regards,
Teodor