Russian Nielloed silver Caucasian 36 cm- dagger with scabbard

Materials: scabbard and handle – silver, inlayed with niello; blade – hard sharp white metal.

Marked with Cyrillic name and initials on a handle dagger: УРТАЕВ К

On a scabbard: 925 silver mark

Length of the dagger in scabbard: 15 inches = 37.5 cm;

Length of the dagger: 14.5 inches = 36.2 cm;

Condition: there are some small bumps at the very end of scabbard.

Similar dagger was sold at Sotheby’s, on Oct 19th, 2004, at Rockefeller Center, New York for $16,730 US

Origin: made by master in Kubachi – Dagestan

Kubachi (Russian: Кубачи́) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Dakhadayevsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 3,060.[5]

Provenance: From private collection of Russian immigrants.

Niello

Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal. The Egyptians are credited with originating niello decoration, which spread throughout Europe during the late Iron Age[1] and is common in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and other types of Early Medieval jewellery.

References:

  1. Wikipedia

  2. Oружие народов Kавказа