A GROUP OF BALKAN BONE-HILTED CUTLERY
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, ex-Ottoman Western Provinces, ca. 1890 - 1900

A GROUP OF BALKAN BONE-HILTED CUTLERY
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, ex-Ottoman Western Provinces, ca. 1890 - 1900

Comprising a fork and knife set, a small fruit dagger, and a larger belt dagger, each one fitted with a carved bone hilt decorated with brass studs and roundels, three left in natural colour, one stained in green, the daggers' blades engraved and inlaid with the site and date of production 'SARAJEVO 1894 / 1901', the longest 32.3cm.

The Russo-Turkish War (1877 - 1878) and the decisive victory of the Russian troops over the Ottomans sanctioned the slow and progressive decline of the Ottoman grip on Balkan and Western territories. Shortly after the war finished, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro gained complete independence from the Ottomans, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied the provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Novi Pazar.

These daggers were produced in Sarajevo after the liberation from the Ottomans. Therefore, the site and date inscriptions are clearly marked in Roman alphabet characters and with the Gregorian calendar date, instead of the Turkish script and the converted Hijra year.

(Quantity:4)

Dimensions: the longest 32.3cm