What is it, really?

[DaveA]

Hello all,

I recently won a sword at auction. It was advertised to be an Indian Tulwar, but I knew that was wrong. I was thinking Persian or elsewhere in the Gulf region. That’s also wrong. So what is it? It is probably Chinese since the blade has archaic, stylized characters …

It looks like it could be seal script (篆书, zhuànshū) or a decorative variation often used for engravings on swords, tools, and ceremonial objects… it looks like it could be a martial phrase, something like “武風雷霆” or “武鋒雷霆”, which would roughly mean:
• “Martial Wind and Thunder”
• or “The Martial Edge is like Thunder and Lightning.”

Here are some pictures. Any ideas?

Dave A

[kahnjar1]

A Chinese copy of a Shamshir intended for "those who travel"? Many chinese copies/fakes can be found in Hong Kong and Shanghai..... just a thought.
Stu

[DaveA]

As the title says. Luckily this was not an expensive lesson.
Dave

[fennec]

Naaah my friends, for me, this is clearly arabic. Just probably very badly etched (it look like not been engraved).
Cant read that, just tried to symbolize caracters Ive reconize, but if you find someone who wasnt born in France like me, he probably would be able to read that

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Hello all,

I recently won a sword at auction. It was advertised to be an Indian Tulwar, but I knew that was wrong. I was thinking Persian or elsewhere in the Gulf region. That’s also wrong. So what is it? It is probably Chinese since the blade has archaic, stylized characters …



Here are some pictures. Any ideas?

Dave A

Your blade has got arabic writing on it . I can't see any Chinese?!

It's probably made in Damascus.. in Syria.. it has a souvenir blade on it..

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

Your blade has got arabic writing on it . I can't see any Chinese?!

It's probably made in Damascus.. in Syria.. it has a souvenir blade on it..

Thank you! I tried ChatGPT first and that’s where the obscure Chinese information came from. The engraving is off-center like it was stamped with a machine. That’s what first clued me in that it was fake. I’ve complained to the auction house because they failed to mention or show a photo of such critical information.

DaveA