Great Qama

[ariel]

Kai,
You hit the nail on the head: every variety of mechanical Damascus is a product of mixing/ twisting chunks of steel with different carbon content. Suffice it to take a book by Manfred Sachse and look at the endless combinations and perturbations of “ hard” and “soft” iron to realize that they all, without exception, are in fact “ twistcore”. But devil is in the details: different masters in different cultures had their favorite schemes of twisting to produce their favorite final pattern. Not for nothing contemporary Indian artisans manufacture blades with the “ bird eye” pattern: simple , quick and flashy. Turks twisted their rods creating “ Turkish ribbon”, old Vikings braided them, but Tibetans just bent their rods on themselves for their unsophisticated “ hairpin “ pattern.
It’s like music: every composer from Bach to ABBA had same do-re-mis, but arranged them differently.
This is why we can look at the Damascus pattern and guess where it came from, and why pattern A and pattern N have a lot in common implying a connection between the traditions.

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by ariel

Kai,
You hit the nail on the head: every variety of mechanical Damascus is a product of mixing/ twisting chunks of steel with different carbon content. Suffice it to take a book by Manfred Sachse and look at the endless combinations and perturbations of “ hard” and “soft” iron to realize that they all, without exception, are in fact “ twistcore”. But devil is in the details: different masters in different cultures had their favorite schemes of twisting to produce their favorite final pattern. Not for nothing contemporary Indian artisans manufacture blades with the “ bird eye” pattern: simple , quick and flashy. Turks twisted their rods creating “ Turkish ribbon”, old Vikings braided them, but Tibetans just bent their rods on themselves for their unsophisticated “ hairpin “ pattern.
It’s like music: every composer from Bach to ABBA had same do-re-mis, but arranged them differently.
This is why we can look at the Damascus pattern and guess where it came from, and why pattern A and pattern N have a lot in common implying a connection between the traditions.

Not an easy book to find in English. Cheap in German though.

[ariel]

OsobistGB:

“but the Persian influence is obvious!”

———————————-

Can you elaborate what particular features you view as specifically and obviously Persian?
Thanks.

[mariusgmioc]

Interesting that the moment I saw it, I also thought that is Persian.

Why?

Simply because it looked so much alike others I saw in Persian museums.

The size, the shape of the hilt and also the chiseled decoration on the blade looked very Persian to me.

PS: Yet, the fullers do not look very Persian...

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by ariel

OsobistGB:

“but the Persian influence is obvious!”

———————————-

Can you elaborate what particular features you view as specifically and obviously Persian?
Thanks.

Ariel,

Standing on the outside looking in, perhaps the gazelle

Gavin

[ariel]

Originally Posted by Gavin Nugent

Ariel,

Standing on the outside looking in, perhaps the gazelle

Gavin

My point is that I cannot find anything that would not be compatible with a 100% Georgian origin.
Can somebody point it out to me?

[TVV]

At this point I do not think anyone is disputing the Georgian attribution. It is important to know where the arms we discuss originate from, but it is equally important to try to avoid going down a rabbit hole and shift the focus away from what is a very high quality, high level of craftsmanship kindjal.

[Gonzoadler]

Hello,

furher pictures are above now, because of the forum rules for new members all my posts be inspected before they appear. It seems that this process needs a bit time.