"Gold & Damascus Steel – The Ottoman Art of Bladesmithing" Exhibition

[Tatyana Dianova]

I have visited yesterday a wonderful exhibition in Coburg, Germany "Gold & Damascus Steel – The Ottoman Art of Bladesmithing". The presented swords and daggers are the real masterpieces of Ottoman art. One can see the unique early blades from 15-16 centuries alongside with beautiful blades from the sultan's workshops.
There is an absolutely great catalogue of the exhibition, with all the pieces which were photographed in detail and described, alongside with new insights on Wootz production and blade decoration. I would recommend to study the catalogue before going to the exhibition, to understand and enjoy it more fully.

[Tatyana Dianova]

More photos

[Tatyana Dianova]

Photos

[Tatyana Dianova]

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[Tatyana Dianova]

The last two

[A. G. Maisey]

Superb.

Thank you.

[Kurt]

Great recommendation and write-up. It truly is a unique exhibition, well worth visiting, and I second the advice to acquire and read the catalog beforehand. It is a rare opportunity to see a private collection of this caliber and so well represented.
But it will only be open until the third of November, so time is running out.

Here is a close up shot of one of the rare pieces a friend of mine made on his visit.


- Kurt

[gp]

Beautuful exhibition and very nice book, although a minor point concerning the bibliography in the book : too much references to auction guides and auction houses / sales rooms compared to the number of actual literature on the cold weapons itself with regards to history and such by scolars and musea.
Nothing wrong with these from a visualisation perspective but lesser from a background historical "learning" perspective ☺

[Pendita65]

Thank you,

an amazing collection at the exhibition thanks for sharing.

Regards, Martin

[TVV]

I finally received the catalogue and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Ottoman (or in my case, North African) blades. It is more than reasonably priced (the book itself, shipping to the US is another issue) for the scope and quality of the edition. The descriptions to the individual objects are very thorough, almost small essays in themselves.