Gonzoadler

Hello,

I got this dagger recently which I would refer as a Kard.
Maybe it was made in the early 20th or late 19th century.
I want to ask you if anyone has seen something similar before?
Where this dagger could been made?

The silver scabbard has typical caucasian decoration elements, but a central asian origin seems to me possible, too.
Which daggers have normally such a scabbard? Has anyone an example?
I think of Kards from Bukhara but that could be wrong.

The blade is from a shortened european or russian sabre and was blued before the remounting.
The stack hilt has the shape of a man with a hat which reminds me of a caucasian papakha. It is decorated with glass stones.
There are also iron mountings with gold Koftgari. The decor looks caucasian, too.

Length overall: 40cm
Without scabbard: 37cm
Blade: 26cm

Comments are welcome

Attached Images

      

Gonzoadler

More pictures:

Attached Images

      

Gonzoadler

And some from the scabbard.
That's it.

Attached Images

      

David R

The blade and scabbard are very nice, but the hilt is probably a walking stick handle.

mahratt

This is Central Asia. End of the 19th century. By this time, Central Asia was annexed to the Russian Empire. Many people who lived in the Russian Empire moved to Central Asia. Including master jewelers from the Caucasus. In Bukhara and other cities, these master jewelers from the Caucasus began to make silver sheaths in the Caucasian style for the traditional knives of Central Asia: kard, bichaq and pesh-kabz.

Judging by the shape of the scabbard, they were made for the bichaq.

Lee

Take a look at this old thread as the bolster and a blade possibly recycled from previous mounts bring this type to mind.

Gonzoadler

Thanks for your helpful comments. There are a lot of similar but not equal pieces from Central Asia, so I was'nt completely sure about that origin.
That the scabbard was made for a Bichaq could be more likely than for a Kard, but the examples from the old thread looking really plausible, too.

I think it is possible that the handle was made for a walking stick, don't know if such sticks were common in that region.

It would be great if anyone can show pieces which are partly similar.

Regards

ariel

Either my eyes betray me, or there is something strange with the blade.
It has a blunt ricasso, so it could not have been shortened from that end.
But the fuller is very short and does not seem to run into the point, so even that end is original. Either it was indeed a saber blade ( Western, not Oriental), with a very short fuller ( in which case colleagues from the European section might be of help), or a bayonet(???).
You are correct, the chasing motifs are Caucasian, and the niello seems to point that way, but the end of the scabbard is tilted up ( Turkish?).

If the handle is from a walking stick, that would hint at other " foreign" parts.

I cannot find any traces of anything Central Asian.

Rich

Interesting piece. Put a cross guard on the blade and it becomes an European hunting knife.
Rich

mahratt

A few more knives from Central Asia in a similar scabard^

Attached Images

 

Kubur

Plus the iron mountings with gold Koftgari, Central Asian and /or Persian?

mahratt

Persian for me...

mariusgmioc

I cannot find a single one with a similar scabbard. Well, maybe the one on the left, but only because of the nielo.

Anyhow, this is a true "chimera" to me.

The scabbard looks Caucasian... I guess...
the blade looks European... I guess again...
and the hilt looks... I am out of guesses...

Interested Party

The blade and the overall look remind me of Scandinavian patterns. I don't believe it is, the blade maybe, but the look is there.....I think it is the contour of the sheath, the line of the handle to the blade, but not the materials that make the sheath and handle. The bolster vs the Scandinavian ferule. I see the niello and the onion blossom at the tip for Caucasian influence.
I would love to know this piece's story. A chimera.

Gonzoalder you always find interesting pieces.

mahratt

Correctly. Because there is not a single pchak in the photo. Only kards and karud.
But, in Caucasus, I cannot remember knives of such a shape that would fit this scabbard ... But in Central Asia there are such knives

By the way, I think from the knives that I showed in the photo against the background of the carpet, there is no question that their scabbard is from Central Asia?

Interested Party

What area did the niello for central Asian scabbards? Or was it a technique that was spread over a vast region without an epicenter to help pinpoint the craftsmanship?