Nimcha: opinions and translations?

Tatyana Dianova · 19th June 2007, 03:08 PM

I bought recently a nice nimcha. It is a big sword: a bit more than 1 meter overall. The handle seems to be from rhino horn, decorated with silver ring with enamel. The similar in style silver and enamel detail is on the top of the handle. The guard is of interesting form and it is decorated with gold koftgary.
The blade seems to be of Europenian origin. There are North Italian blade marks (dots, eyelashes and cross between them). But I wasn’t able to find similar blade in any of my books. It seems to be older, then 19th century. Can somebody tell me the age of the blade and have somebody seen anything similar? The age of the whole sword? Its origin?
There are also chiseled Arabic ornaments on the both sides of the blade. They consist of 4 different types of flowers and Arabic inscriptions. Maybe somebody can translate them (they are not very well preserved, especially on the side with blade marks). There is also an Arabic inscription on the back of the blade: the name of the master or owner?
Any help will be much appreciated.

19th June 2007, 03:08 PM	#1
Tatyana Dianova Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 678	Nimcha: opinions and translations? I bought recently a nice nimcha. It is a big sword: a bit more than 1 meter overall. The handle seems to be from rhino horn, decorated with silver ring with enamel. The similar in style silver and enamel detail is on the top of the handle. The guard is of interesting form and it is decorated with gold koftgary. The blade seems to be of Europenian origin. There are North Italian blade marks (dots, eyelashes and cross between them). But I wasn’t able to find similar blade in any of my books. It seems to be older, then 19th century. Can somebody tell me the age of the blade and have somebody seen anything similar? The age of the whole sword? Its origin? There are also chiseled Arabic ornaments on the both sides of the blade. They consist of 4 different types of flowers and Arabic inscriptions. Maybe somebody can translate them (they are not very well preserved, especially on the side with blade marks). There is also an Arabic inscription on the back of the blade: the name of the master or owner? Any help will be much appreciated. Attached Images