Bukharan handles

Philip · 16th September 2007, 08:10 AM

Ariel,
I have an example of one of these sabers whose horn grip is made of one piece. Just behind the blade bolster is a niello silver sleeve that covers about 2/3 of the length of the grip itself. The horn part that is visible behind that is unitary, there is no tang band nor are there any rivet heads in evidence.

A specimen in the Henri Moser collection (cat. no. 425) has a grip very much like that on my saber, it has the same profile and oval cross-section, but it is entirely sheathed in silver. Cat. no. 424 in the same collection has a one-piece jade grip.

Moser cat. no. 426 is interesting in that its grip is formed by two horn scales held to the tang band by.... THREE rivets, in line.

All three of the Moser speciments are published in:

E. Rohrer, "Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels: die Waffen aus Turkestan", in JAHRBUCH SES BERNISCHEN HISTORISCHEN MUSEUMS IN BERN, xxvii. Jahrgang, Bern: Buchdruckerei K. J. Wyss Erben AG, 1948, pp. 70-73; plate XC

R. Zeller and E. Rohrer, ORIENTALISCHE SAMMLUNG HENRI MOSER-CHARLOTTENFELS: BESCHREIBENDER KATALOG DER WAFFENSAMMLUNG [same publisher, 1955], Chapter 4.

My colleague Scott Rodell took photos of several more examples of Bukhara sabers in the Museum of Oriental Cultures in Moscow over 15 yr. ago, I need to retrieve them from my image files (they are 35mm photoprints) to study their hilt design. I will post the info once I locate them.

16th September 2007, 08:10 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	variations on Bukharan saber grips Ariel, I have an example of one of these sabers whose horn grip is made of one piece. Just behind the blade bolster is a niello silver sleeve that covers about 2/3 of the length of the grip itself. The horn part that is visible behind that is unitary, there is no tang band nor are there any rivet heads in evidence. A specimen in the Henri Moser collection (cat. no. 425) has a grip very much like that on my saber, it has the same profile and oval cross-section, but it is entirely sheathed in silver. Cat. no. 424 in the same collection has a one-piece jade grip. Moser cat. no. 426 is interesting in that its grip is formed by two horn scales held to the tang band by.... THREE rivets, in line. All three of the Moser speciments are published in: E. Rohrer, "Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels: die Waffen aus Turkestan", in JAHRBUCH SES BERNISCHEN HISTORISCHEN MUSEUMS IN BERN, xxvii. Jahrgang, Bern: Buchdruckerei K. J. Wyss Erben AG, 1948, pp. 70-73; plate XC R. Zeller and E. Rohrer, ORIENTALISCHE SAMMLUNG HENRI MOSER-CHARLOTTENFELS: BESCHREIBENDER KATALOG DER WAFFENSAMMLUNG [same publisher, 1955], Chapter 4. My colleague Scott Rodell took photos of several more examples of Bukhara sabers in the Museum of Oriental Cultures in Moscow over 15 yr. ago, I need to retrieve them from my image files (they are 35mm photoprints) to study their hilt design. I will post the info once I locate them.