A koummya- and contexts

[Marc M.]

Hi Jim
Congratulations on your first koumiya. I got to know koumiyas in the late 1990s when an exhibition on Morocco was taking place at the Africa Museum. The catalogue of the exhibition did not provide any information about these objects beyond 3 photos. Books about these knives are rare and expensive so knowledge about the koumiya was fairly non-existent. That changed somewhat with joining the forum, lots of info make that I found 3 reasonably good koumiya's, all already posted. What is decisive for me is the blade. With the right dimensions and especially the thickness of the blade, you are already well placed to make the distinction and the general shape and finish of the blade is also important. It is easier to hold it in your hand than to decide from a distance. In the case of a koumiya I try to bend the blade by hand, it stays crookedl, low quality and usually tourist grade, a good steel blade returns to the position before bending. Each of us will have a way of judging a blade.
Regards
Marc