Ethiopean Sword

[M.carter]

Ive seen an identical sword to this here in Kuwait, with the G.G, thermometer and the lion of judah mark. Although that had no scabbard. The blade was in a better condition (not resharpened).

[Bill M]

Thanks for the replies. Any ideas about the handle? Rhino??

[tom hyle]

I'm not sure what would make you think the blade is resharpened; Looks to me like it's just "sharpened" and hasn't seen much if any use. As for characterizing an unsharpened sword as in better condition than a sharpened one; a little like saying a car that's never had any gasoling poluting its clean tank is in better condition than one that has been filled up

[Conogre]

A comment and a question, even if perhaps a little dumb.
As to the horn hilt, rhino is a possibility, based upon the close-up photo in which the thermometer is seen, as the edge shows a "roughened" area, but in all the hilt appears too translucent to my eye, a tough call with just photographs.
Keep in mind that rhino and giraffe horn are compacted hair that's completely opaque and not naturally shiny unless carefully buffed and polished.As to the question, is this still called a gurade, based upon the hilt, even though it has a perfectly straight blade?
At any rate, it's a completely beautiful sword, and while I'm not usually impressed by "blood stains" and the like, my own preferences are to a sharpened blade, particularly in military pieces, unless it was done with a Dremmel or on a garage grinder with a heavy hand.
Mike

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Conogre

A comment and a question, even if perhaps a little dumb.
As to the horn hilt, rhino is a possibility, based upon the close-up photo in which the thermometer is seen, as the edge shows a "roughened" area, but in all the hilt appears too translucent to my eye, a tough call with just photographs.

Mike, There is a piece of the hilt broken off near the blade. The hilt does have a translucency to it. I did work to get the backlight to shine through it.

Most of the rhino horn I have seen looks more like wood, but here are some blond-looking rhino horn hilts.

http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=567
http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=1710

Originally Posted by Conogre

Keep in mind that rhino and giraffe horn are compacted hair that's completely opaque and not naturally shiny unless carefully buffed and polished.

I recently met with a collector who has an incredible Jambiya with Giraffe hilt. It was slightly translucent and a strange, but beautiful greenish color. He said that someone told him that the Giraffe horn is too fibrous to make good hilts and that the hilt was made from a Giraffe hoof. I had never seen one before.

Most of the rhino horn I have seen looked very much like wood, but there are five different kinds of rhino alive today. Maybe one has this kind of horn???

http://www.priweb.org/ed/ICTHOL/ICTH...papers/42.html

"The most interesting fact about the rhino horns is that it is made of hair. Most people associate hair with soft furry substance found on ones head. But the rhino horns were extremely hard and sharp. The horns of cows are hollow with a bone core, but rhino horns are made of fused, fibrous constructions that are solid all the way through. The fibers are hairs that are attached to the nose by skin supported by a raised, roughened area on the skull."

Originally Posted by Conogre

As to the question, is this still called a gurade, based upon the hilt, even though it has a perfectly straight blade?

At any rate, it's a completely beautiful sword, and while I'm not usually impressed by "blood stains" and the like, my own preferences are to a sharpened blade, particularly in military pieces, unless it was done with a Dremmel or on a garage grinder with a heavy hand.
Mike

The sharpening is OK with me.

[Conogre]

Hi Bill;
I too have seen blond colored rhino horn, and, as you mentioned, it is very similar to wood in its graininess and likewise in its being opaque, with no member of the rhino family having translucent horns.
Another way to tell is to moisten it...if it's rhino horn it will expand, making the hairs individually apparent and giving it a slightly "sticky" feel, as in very fine velcro, one of the prime reasons it was (and still is, thus the poaching problem) prized for hilt material, as opposed to regular horn, which will become slippery.
While the horns of giraffe are less compacted than rhinocerous, they are still used rarely to occasionally, very fortunate for giraffes, while the hoofs of many of the large quadrapeds are very similar to the material found in their horns and could also be easily used for hilting/ scabbard sheating purposes, although they are more commonly used, of course, as "Jello".
Mike

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Conogre

Hi Bill;
I too have seen blond colored rhino horn, and, as you mentioned, it is very similar to wood in its graininess and likewise in its being opaque, with no member of the rhino family having translucent horns.
Another way to tell is to moisten it...if it's rhino horn it will expand, making the hairs individually apparent and giving it a slightly "sticky" feel, as in very fine velcro, one of the prime reasons it was (and still is, thus the poaching problem) prized for hilt material, as opposed to regular horn, which will become slippery.
While the horns of giraffe are less compacted than rhinocerous, they are still used rarely to occasionally, very fortunate for giraffes, while the hoofs of many of the large quadrapeds are very similar to the material found in their horns and could also be easily used for hilting/ scabbard sheating purposes, although they are more commonly used, of course, as "Jello".
Mike

Mike,

I tried your moistening suggestion and it does feel 'sticky' and not slippery. But with a strong light behind it, it IS translucent.

The blade and scabbard are much better than the average Ethiopean sword and a quailty hilt would be in order.

IF this is not rhino, what could it be?

A friend suggested it might be cow horn.

Discussion on this Forum earlier about hilt possibilities.

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002288.html


"Jello?" This is making me hungry. Do they make a rhino or giraffe flavored Jello? On second thought, I think that I'll pass.