19th C. Turkish Balkan Edged Weapons, Zoomorphic Pommel Sword and Bıçak Knife

Near East, Turkey, Ottoman Empire. Two Ottoman edged weapons with bone hilts, acid-etched blades and leather-covered wooden sheaths. The larger has a long recurved carbon steel blade, and its hilt rises to an animal-head pommel. Its sheath is fitted with a brass collar and chape, the collar hung with a steel suspension ring and the seam closed with dense stitching. The smaller, a knife (bıçak), tapers to a stout point above a swelling grip, its sheath fitted with a steel collar and a scrolling suspension loop. Figural and animal imagery etched into both blades follows a style favored in Anatolian and Balkan workshops, where such weapons were both personal arms and visible marks of status. The varsak takes its name from the Varsak Turkmen of southern Anatolia and belongs to a family of short, forward-weighted Ottoman swords built for close work, the recurved profile concentrating force at the belly of the blade. Bicak, simply Turkish for "knife", covers a broad class of single-edged utility and fighting knives carried across the empire. Etched ornament on Ottoman blades was typically laid down with a resist ground and an acid bite, letting a decorator work in beasts, figures, foliate scrolls, and occasional inscriptions far faster than a chisel allowed. Bone, horn, and marine ivory were the standard hilt materials, chosen for grip and for the deep polish they take from years in the hand. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 203809

Estimate:$225

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