Something New From Nepal

[WebleyGreene455]

@VertigoBE & @fourfive8

The first decent picture I've managed to get so far, of the Rifles badge in the guard:

As you can see, there's some discoloration and gunk on the guard, but I'm not sure how much of it is actually rust. The inside of the guard, on the other hand, definitely has some rust on it (and what looks like a layer of dried gunk) but doesn't seem to have suffered much damage from it. I'll try and get some decent pics of the inside.

My camera won't focus on the blade, so I'll have to find a magnifying glass to get some pics of the etching. There's dark spots on it, including over the royal cypher, and the etching's worn and a bit faint.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Guard interior & shagreen grip.

 

[fourfive8]

Thanks for posting! Everything looks exactly right. The patina and wear of all the parts match- a good thing! Flat, shiny or smooth surfaces are buggers to photograph with glare and reflection being big enemies. Indirect light might help- not too bright and not too dim. Hold steady and let the camera do its thing. Modern cell and digital cameras are amazing beasts. Sometimes, you can back away slightly then zoom in to compensate to play tricks on the focusing and exposure systems within the camera. Indirect light, even if not as bright as its seems it should be, may work best... but you have to hold steady because the camera may extend the exposure time to adjust to less light. In the process, the extended exposure time can blur the shot.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Thanks for posting! Everything looks exactly right. The patina and wear of all the parts match- a good thing! Flat, shiny or smooth surfaces are buggers to photograph. Indirect light might help- not too bright and not too dim. Hold steady and let the camera do its thing. Modern cell and digital cameras are amazing beasts. Sometimes, you can back away slightly then zoom in to compensate to play tricks on the focusing and exposure systems within the camera. Indirect light even if not really as bright as its seems it should be, may work best... but you have to hold steady because the camera may extend the exposure time to adjust to less light. In the process, the extended exposure time can blur the shot.

That's the trouble I had earlier with the blade, as you'll see once my phone lets me transfer the photos. I got the proof, the unit banner, and the Samuel Brothers banner alright but trying to get the cypher into focus without too much reflection was a bit difficult.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Frontier Mounted Rifles:

Samuel Brothers address & royal coat of arms of the UK:

Queen Victoria's royal cypher (obscured):

 

[fourfive8]

Very cool! Thanks for posting.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Very cool! Thanks for posting.

No problem. I'm kinda wondering if it was ever properly sharpened; the edge has more of a butter-knife feel to it but the very tip's definitely capable of a wound.

 

[VertigoBE]

@WebleyGreene455 and @fourfive8 : a general question for you. When you purchase such old blades and you find rust, some pitting, or other. Would you try to clean that up and restore the fit/finish to its original ? Or would that rather decrease its value or have too high a risk of damaging the blade?

thanks!

V.

 

[Jörg Krüger]

@WebleyGreene455 and @fourfive8 : a general question for you. When you purchase such old blades and you find rust, some pitting, or other. Would you try to clean that up and restore the fit/finish to its original ? Or would that rather decrease its value or have too high a risk of damaging the blade?

thanks!

V.

Reading through this I was wondering precisely the same thing.

 

[fourfive8]

No problem. I'm kinda wondering if it was ever properly sharpened; the edge has more of a butter-knife feel to it but the very tip's definitely capable of a wound.

The edges do not look like they have been sharpened. Maybe a drill or presentation piece. Wear could be from ceremonial carry, poor storage or kids playing "army" through the years.

As to cleaning? My gut on this one says not much- maybe lightly oil the blade and guard with a rag being careful not to get oil on the handle grip.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

The edges do not look like they have been sharpened. Maybe a drill or presentation piece. Wear could be from ceremonial carry, poor storage or kids playing "army" through the years.

As to cleaning? My gut on this one says not much- maybe lightly oil the blade and guard with a rag being careful not to get oil on the handle grip.

That and how many infantry officers still got into sword fights in South Africa, particularly against the Boers, at the turn of the century? How many Boers even carried swords? Probably not very many! I did read somewhere that the blades were officially only supposed to be sharpened before battle and re-dulled after for drill/dress, but I think I agree that this one wasn't sharpened to begin with. If it was a cavalry sword instead of mounted infantry, or a sword known to have been in Indian service instead of South African, I might expect otherwise.

As for your question, @VertigoBE , I've looked at having it properly restored by Crisp & Sons or another company, or at least have the guard and blade cleaned of rust and discoloration and have the grip re-wired. Likewise having just the little strap replaced on the scabbard so it'll fit in a hanger again, instead of completely redoing it. But I'm on the fence about doing any of that to begin with.

 

[Nyati]

Years ago, when I collected military swords, I cleaned them with steel wool (4 zeros, the finest available), and oil.

 

[baxterb]

Very cool. Not sure why, but I have a fascination for that part of the world. Must be a reincarnation thing. Neat stuff!

 

[nztimb]

The edges do not look like they have been sharpened. Maybe a drill or presentation piece. Wear could be from ceremonial carry, poor storage or kids playing "army" through the years.

As to cleaning? My gut on this one says not much- maybe lightly oil the blade and guard with a rag being careful not to get oil on the handle grip.

That is where I would use the Renaissance Wax rather than oil.

 

[fourfive8]

Good stuff and can be used on most any surface.

 

[fourfive8]

Almost forgot I had this one- getting old I guess Spent quite a bit of trial and error time trying to get the light right to capture the Turkish ribbon pattern in this blade. So I know exactly the problem with getting good images of blade subtleties.

The classic recurved form of the yataghan sword/short sword is one of my favorite designs. This one, in contrast to the one posted earlier, is very plain and utilitarian in design. It has the classic and diagnostic eared grip of the yataghan. It has a fairly light weight (and fast handling!) T-spined recurved blade of high quality, laminated steel. This one forged in Turkish ribbon pattern. One source, suggests this type of Turkish ribbon is of early design and could date even earlier than I am guessing- possibly early 1700s. The grip slabs are horn- likely sheep, goat or ibex. Like the previous yataghan, I can't cipher the tughra but judging by the age of the piece, mid-late 1700s?, I'd guess Ottoman reign of Abdul Hamid I or Selim III. But that is pure guesstimate. Most of these inlaid tughras seem almost suggestive instead of literal in that the original tughras were a form of complex calligraphy done with extremely fine and specialized pens/brushes so exact duplication by inlay would have been nearly impossble. I dunno?