New arrival -- Pulwar from Afghanistan...

FenrisWolf · 11th March 2007, 08:21 PM

...by way of Germany, so it's been on a bit of a journey. 4 1/2" hilt, blade is 29" in straight line from quillions to tip, quillions 4 1/8" wide, blade is 1 5/16" wide at hilt, 5/16" thick at spine.

Blade is clean except for a few spots ofactive rust along the cutting edge that I will carefully remove to prevent any further deterioration. Whoever did the polish/etch on this did a really nice job of bringing up the pattern without over-polishing the blade. Never really understood the expression "watered" steel before, but the pattern weld on some of these blades really does look like running water...

So, any opinions from the experts? Was the seller accurate in attributing this to Afghanistan, and any guesses as to approx. age?

ward · 11th March 2007, 08:29 PM

Afghanistan is right, Indian pattern weld blade 19th century chiselling on basket will pop out more if you clean it

FenrisWolf · 11th March 2007, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ward

Afghanistan is right, Indian pattern weld blade 19th century chiselling on basket will pop out more if you clean it

It actually looks better in person; I don't have the best camera in the world, nor the best photographic skills. Here are a couple of other shots of the hilt. There are also faint traces of the gold koftgari that once decorated it, but they'r almost nonexistent.

ward · 11th March 2007, 09:09 PM

that is probally brass were the piece was welded together. As a general rule you will not see gold on afghan pieces.

FenrisWolf · 11th March 2007, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ward

that is probally brass were the piece was welded together. As a general rule you will not see gold on afghan pieces.

Ah, that makes more sense; it didn't really look like the sort of traces that old koftgari leaves, but I couldn't think of what else it might be. Thanks!

Andrew · 11th March 2007, 09:41 PM

Congratulations, Fenris.

That's a very nice sword. I love the patina on that handle; contrasts very nicely with the blade.

11th March 2007, 08:21 PM	#1
FenrisWolf Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 181	New arrival -- Pulwar from Afghanistan... ...by way of Germany, so it's been on a bit of a journey. 4 1/2" hilt, blade is 29" in straight line from quillions to tip, quillions 4 1/8" wide, blade is 1 5/16" wide at hilt, 5/16" thick at spine. Blade is clean except for a few spots ofactive rust along the cutting edge that I will carefully remove to prevent any further deterioration. Whoever did the polish/etch on this did a really nice job of bringing up the pattern without over-polishing the blade. Never really understood the expression "watered" steel before, but the pattern weld on some of these blades really does look like running water... So, any opinions from the experts? Was the seller accurate in attributing this to Afghanistan, and any guesses as to approx. age?

11th March 2007, 08:29 PM	#2
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	Afghanistan is right, Indian pattern weld blade 19th century chiselling on basket will pop out more if you clean it

11th March 2007, 09:09 PM	#4
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	that is probally brass were the piece was welded together. As a general rule you will not see gold on afghan pieces.

11th March 2007, 09:41 PM	#6
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Congratulations, Fenris. That's a very nice sword. I love the patina on that handle; contrasts very nicely with the blade.