Miniature or Child Shibriya

motan · 5th June 2017, 12:25 PM

Hi Alex,
Anything I say is a speculation because I have not seen anything similar before. Still I think that it is a nice and genuine find. Some aspects, like the twisted and wrapped silver wire, the general shape of the scabbard, and the little knob in the middle of the hilt are typical of shibriyas of the best known Jordanian type. Others, like the dog-leg blade and especially the shape of the pommel do not belong to standard shibiya style. Some technical details, like using one metal sheet on both sides are also different from shibriyas (seperate sheet is usually used for the back). So where is it from? The shape of the blade points to an early date - before WWI, but I am not sure in this case (see discussion in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=Motan; http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=Mota). The shape of the hilt and especially the pommel are reminicent of Iraqi (Bagdad) daggers. Just by gut feeling, I would place this dagger somewhere in Northern Arabia, where daggers called shibriya are much more diverse and include many blade and pommel shapes similar to this one.
As for the miniature size, this is a mistery that was discussed before, among others in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=size+matter The funny thing is that miniatures appear in almost every style and age. I own a pre 1900 Georgian kindjal where the space for the palm is just under 4cm!! while the blade is sharp and 20cm long. Would like to hear others abouthis subject though.

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5th June 2017, 12:25 PM	#3
motan Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Jerusalem Posts: 274	Hi Alex, Anything I say is a speculation because I have not seen anything similar before. Still I think that it is a nice and genuine find. Some aspects, like the twisted and wrapped silver wire, the general shape of the scabbard, and the little knob in the middle of the hilt are typical of shibriyas of the best known Jordanian type. Others, like the dog-leg blade and especially the shape of the pommel do not belong to standard shibiya style. Some technical details, like using one metal sheet on both sides are also different from shibriyas (seperate sheet is usually used for the back). So where is it from? The shape of the blade points to an early date - before WWI, but I am not sure in this case (see discussion in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=Motan; http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=Mota). The shape of the hilt and especially the pommel are reminicent of Iraqi (Bagdad) daggers. Just by gut feeling, I would place this dagger somewhere in Northern Arabia, where daggers called shibriya are much more diverse and include many blade and pommel shapes similar to this one. As for the miniature size, this is a mistery that was discussed before, among others in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=size+matter The funny thing is that miniatures appear in almost every style and age. I own a pre 1900 Georgian kindjal where the space for the palm is just under 4cm!! while the blade is sharp and 20cm long. Would like to hear others abouthis subject though.