Lance head ?? Indo Persian? Seller stated African

katana · 31st August 2010, 05:19 PM

The saga continues....after further cleaning I have found faint flower motifs, decorated borders and other very fine design detailing in varying amounts. The sides of the head have symmetrical designs (either side of the midrib), so where some of the designs are worn on one side of the blade they are sometimes evident on the other.

At first glance they seem to be acid etched but am almost certain that they are the remaining imprints of the koftgari which has 'marked' the steel. Perhaps these are caused by the remaining silver particles or some sort of electrolytic action between the silver and steel

Of what I can make out the designs are definately India.

The steel does appear to be possibly wootz, the difficulty is due to the remaining designs which give the 'appearance' of 'patterning'.

On older pieces was koftgari mainly used on quality steel such as wootz ? Should I clean and polish a window and etch ? All comments and opinions apreciated, thank you

Regards David

katana · 7th September 2010, 09:34 PM

Below is a picture of a Khanda hilt, the Koftgari designs are very similar to the visible 'ghosting' marks I can see in the spear head.

Would these designs be common to certain areas of India, or groups or are they fairly common ?

Regards David

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dketch · 17th March 2011, 02:53 AM

Originally Posted by katana

Yours seems very similar to something I have .....

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showt...highlight=lance

Regards David

Wow! David, your spear top looks almost identical in shape and size to the one I bought. Do you think my pike was built in the same area or timeframe as the one you have? If so, any idea as to when / where it was made?

VERY interesting....

- Doug

7th September 2010, 09:34 PM	#2
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Below is a picture of a Khanda hilt, the Koftgari designs are very similar to the visible 'ghosting' marks I can see in the spear head. Would these designs be common to certain areas of India, or groups or are they fairly common ? Regards David . Attached Images

17th March 2011, 02:53 AM	#3
dketch Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 12	Identification Originally Posted by katana Yours seems very similar to something I have ..... http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showt...highlight=lance Regards David Wow! David, your spear top looks almost identical in shape and size to the one I bought. Do you think my pike was built in the same area or timeframe as the one you have? If so, any idea as to when / where it was made? VERY interesting.... - Doug

31st August 2010, 05:19 PM	#1
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	The saga continues....after further cleaning I have found faint flower motifs, decorated borders and other very fine design detailing in varying amounts. The sides of the head have symmetrical designs (either side of the midrib), so where some of the designs are worn on one side of the blade they are sometimes evident on the other. At first glance they seem to be acid etched but am almost certain that they are the remaining imprints of the koftgari which has 'marked' the steel. Perhaps these are caused by the remaining silver particles or some sort of electrolytic action between the silver and steel Of what I can make out the designs are definately India. The steel does appear to be possibly wootz, the difficulty is due to the remaining designs which give the 'appearance' of 'patterning'. On older pieces was koftgari mainly used on quality steel such as wootz ? Should I clean and polish a window and etch ? All comments and opinions apreciated, thank you Regards David