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25th July 2022, 06:56 PM | #1 |
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learn something new
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25th July 2022, 08:22 PM | #2 |
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The upper ones are generic knives., identical blades are seen on Khazar, Celtic, Varangian ( Norsemen, Viking, Norman, - choose your poison:-). What part of Russia did they come from, BTW?
Yes, this is my knife: F. Smagin + location but I can't find my loupe and the letters are small. 20th century. Bought it for a pittance, just to re-sell it to some Russian collector, to raise the intensity of his patriotic fervor. Want it? Sabers are generic European, nothing specific. I shall take your word they were manufactured in Russia after Oriental /European models, just like all Russian sabers. The upper one is often characterized as " Hungarian magnate". The remaining two have Russian ( likely) gold work, but the construction is generic. All of your examples are from 18-19 century, when Russia copied European sabers. Has it suddenly invented anything original at that time? Length does not count because hunting weapons ( Hirschfangers etc. had longer blades). BTW, I cited published examples of Oriental predecessors of " Russian" weapons. You might look at them. Nobody regards cards as genuine, traditional, Indian weapons. They were brought there from Persia. The land of their manufacture did vary and is determined by their decorative elements. You might start looking for a Russian weapon as specific for Russia as Turkish Kilij/Pala for Mamluks/Turkey, Indonesian and Philippine weapons, Nepalese Kukri, Turkish Yataghan, Flissa, Kastane, Omani Kattara and its " fighting sword", Philippine weapons, Chilean Corvo, Indian Patissa and Khanda, and even scores of Sub-Saharan tribal , etc, etc. Just to simplify it for you: show me a bladed weapon that is attributable to Russia just by a quick glance. Do not pay attention to gold decorations of the blade: Tula was very artistic. The only "Russian" bladed weapon I know is their dragoon saber that was appropriated together with its name from the Caucasus ( shashka) and given a European D-guard to boot. |
26th July 2022, 02:41 PM | #3 | |||
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Last edited by Mercenary; 26th July 2022 at 02:58 PM. |
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26th July 2022, 03:29 PM | #4 | ||
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You can read in Russian. To begin with, I can recommend to you the academic work of А.Н.Кирпичников "Древнерусское оружие" (A.N.Kirpichnikov "Old Russian weapons"). You will understand that weapons cannot be considered separately, taken out of the cultural and historical context. Weapons are always associated with an era, costume, decorative art, ritual, etc. Examining individual items with a quick glance - this approach is characteristic of a collector or dealer: he went to the counter, chose and bought something. Science works differently. You, instead of understanding what real Russian knives looked like, argue with me, but buy fake ones. |
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26th July 2022, 11:45 PM | #5 |
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You are carefully avoiding a straight and simple answer to my question. And I am not arguing with you: I just politely ask you to show me purely Russian swords.
Thus, I repeat: - can you show a couple of 16-19 century swords that are genuinely Russian by their construction and origin, and clearly different from any European/Oriental contemporaneous examples? I am not asking you about " Analyzes, additional researches, consultations of other experts are necessary. You can't learn weapons just by flipping through picture albums. This is unacceptable, this is a profanity." I am sure you do not need more than 3 seconds to proclaim " This is an Ottoman Pala", "This is an Indian Khanda", "This is an Algerian Flissa". That's what I am asking for. After that you can look carefully at the sword , consult books and experts and suggest that a particular Pala, although Ottoman, was made in Syria or the Balkans. If you could from a single pic "determine" that my knife was a "fake", you should have no problem determining at least the origin of some famous and purely "Russian" swords. Not of Russian manufacture, but primordially Russian, a national sword akin to the above examples. Please do not show examples of lavish decorations by Bushuev or Boyarshchinov: Tula was famous for its bling, but stuck to foreign construction patterns. If you cannot present such examples, there is no shame to it: British and French armies had their " Mameluke" sabers that they copied from the Egyptian ones. No German develops an inferiority complex from the knowledge that the famous " Bluchersabel" was just a spit image copy of the British 1796 pattern. You also should not despair if you cannot find such examples. We are talking about swords and daggers, not about personalities. And let's not pretend we are professional arms historians: we are reasonably well-read amateurs. There is no need to go into pseudoacademic digressions. So, how about bringing some examples from Kirpichnikov or any other Russian source that I do not have and am not interested in reading? Russian arms are not my cup of tea and the only reason I entered this discussion is to ask you a question about the topic you have started. Just BTW: you seem to enjoy using snarky comments. Why? I have never insulted you and do not intend to do it in the future. If I have said something in the past that you perceived as personally negative, I apologize and wish to assure you that it was not my intent. How about returning the courtesy, be polite and avoid " fighting words"? Last edited by ariel; 27th July 2022 at 02:39 PM. |
28th July 2022, 10:30 AM | #6 |
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Timeout needed
Gentlemen.
Please! I have risen from my COVID bed to see, yet again, that this type of bickering is just not called for. Why is it that when it comes to things even vaguely Russian there is this animosity? Time to take a break guys. See you in three months. Ian |
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