A Silver-mounted Omani sikin - SOLD

A silver-mounted Omani sikin or shafra knife. These small utility knives are worn on the belt behind the traditional khanjar or jambiya dagger. This particular example belongs to a sub-class of of these knives which is characterised by invariably having a straight, single-edged wootz blade, often of laddered "kirk narduban" pattern, and being clad entirely in silver. The pommel is typically either domed or a shallow V-shape. The decoration tends to be simple punched designs of dots, lines, and flowers, with filligree work surrounding the blade collar and mouth of the scabbard. For similar examples see "Ancient Weapons of Oman, Volume 1 - Edged Weapons" by Vincenzo Clarizia (2022).
 
This example has a blade of very strongly patterned kirk narduban wootz. The very tip of the blade has been chipped off, but otherwise it is in good condition, and appears to still be in its original etch. There is some movement of the blade within the hilt, but it is still firmly attached. The silver on the hilt is still in good condition. The scabbard however, has lost the finial at its tip, is dented in its middle portion, and has a large hole in one spot. That aside, it is still solid and shows no signs of splitting. 
 
Overall, a nice little knife, with a very well-marked wootz blade. 
 
Blade length:  17.5 cm
Overall length:  27 cm
Length in scabbard:  31.5 cm
Blade early 19th century or earlier, hilt and scabbard probably later