Original 17th C. Tatar Sword

It is hard to describe how rare these swords are. This is an original 17th C.- early 18th C. Tatar, Lvov manufacture, sword shamshir with an inlaid tamga, symbol of the Tatar horde. In Poland these sabres were called 'ordynka' (horde) for their steppes origins, or often 'czeczuga' (small sturgeon) for the ray or fishskin grips. This example has a fine rayskin grip with original old nails and a small piece missing showing the finely aged wooden core underneath. The blade is very nice example and similar styles can be seen in Bron Tatarcsyki by Jacek Gutowski and published by Res Publica Multiethnica , Warsaw , 1997. The scabbard is later made in the early part of the 20th C. The blade is very well made and has 21 s- marks along the forte and the silver inlaid tamga on the ricasso, whic corresponds to old Turkic and stands for ae or n. It also displays a fine lamellar pattern that is difficult to capture in pictures but the hardened dark edge can be seen in the pictures. Just a wonderful and very rare sword. Overall length is 37, blade is 31.