Another One of These :-))
 

Hey Guys,

So took 30 mins of my busy day schedual to visit the antique shops. Found this jambiya and I passed it, but decided to check the hilt again. Turned out to be one of those confusing ones again, it looks alot like bovine but has all the rhino features... I carry a small flash light with me and its translucent but cant take proper photos of it under sunlight, becomes too bright!

Will appreciate all comments, I like it anyways because its a dress piece, not a tourist one.

Salam Bro.
my comments about the horn handle
are not sufficiently based on a expertise thorough to be valid,
for time being, I reading here and here what others are saying

I am much more modest ... :o
and my interest goes to the belt, which is very nice

if one day you see ... one ... lying around, give me notice about ;)
I've the jambiya for it :p

à +

Dom

It's hard to say but IMO it looks like bovine to me. There are signs of delamination on the hilt :shrug:. You need to take a good LED flash light and shine it on the hilt from behind and take a pic ;) .

Its the love child of a wayward cow and a seductive rhino.

Hi Lotfy,

Thank you for sharing your new piece - may you enjoy it in good health!

I am as sure as I possibly can be, without having it in hand, that your hilt is made from bovine horn. In a longitudinal section, rhinoceros horn will not display the hazy "streaks" that are visible on the side of yours, but rather be of a type either where the grain has a look of crushed/slushed ice or where the individual chitinous fibres are visible - the latter looks exactly like a bundle of hard compressed hairs (which it is :)).

Rhino as well as bovine horn can be translucent as well as display a wide palette of colors, so these can't be taken as a proof characters on their own.

I attach here for comparison a picture of the hilts of a couple of rhino-nimchas that recently passed through my hands. The icy type is on top - the hairy on bottom. The picture kindof sucks, but the swords aren't here anymore, so new pics are unfortunately not possible. I hope you will see what I mean though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...melcloseup.jpg


Personally, I think people often overestimate the aesthetical qualities of rhinoceros horn, just because it is rare. I've often seen somebody gawk over a piece of rhino which, in all honesty, was as gray and dull as concrete. Conversely, I recently saw the handle of a bade-bade and the belt clip of a Javanese knife, both made in qualities and colors of buffalo horn, that nearly knocked my socks off!

In my opinion, when concerning any horn, beauty is all about grain, color and of course age patina. The source species is less important.


Cordially, - Thor

are you sure that is not a tourist one??? because in my opinion, a proper Jambiya as used by the people of Yemen, is generally the larger variety that has a greater curve.

like this one:

bow compare mine to this:

Hey mate,

Jambiyas have different design. The one you show has very low quality silver work and appears touristy. The one I am showing is recent but a real dress piece with a good quality belt.

Though this is hard to define because I have seen fine hilts and crappy scabbards/blades before :/

Hey Thor,

I agree with you. Some of the rhino pieces I got were very dull looking :P

This one confuses me because it has alot of the rhino features, including grain at the top of the hilt and I'll try to take some extra photos to show the other features. Its heavily polished so some features are hard to photograph.

I really dont mind it being bovine though, its still a nice example with an attractive belt.

I just found this thread.

I agree that this is bovine - not brown enough and the black regions in white I have seen in different cow horns.