An ivory-hilted peshkabz knife

Museum: Feldman Family Museum

The curved blade is made of watered steel with a typical T-section spine, a false edge and a reinforced tip. The forte of the blade on each side is decorated in gold koftgari with a cartouche and a half-palmette that are filled with arabesque motifs (eslimi). The hilt is formed by two ivory scales, and the grip strap and bolster are made of plain steel. The blade spine, grip strap and bolster are decorated with gold koftgari continuous floral design. The wooden scabbard is covered with dark green velvet, which is only partially preserved. The scabbard mounts are made of watered steel pierced and ornamented with gold koftgari. The scabbard locket and dagger hilt are fitted with hanging openwork loops. The scabbard chape terminates in a ribbed conical bud.

COMMENT. Peshkabz is a type of Iranian armour-piercing knife with a curved blade. The name means "front grip" in Persian, since the knife was worn on the belt or behind the belt in the centre as opposed to the kard and khanjar that were located at the sides. It is characterized by a recurved, acutely tapering, single-edged blade with a T-shaped spine and a reinforced cutting edge for increase its strength and rigidity. In addition, the blade frequently has a reinforced or double-edged tip to increase the penetration ability. The broad base of the blade functions as a hand-guard. The curved, usually massive hilt is commonly formed by two scales that could be made of various materials, such as horn, stone, elephant ivory and walrus ivory. Like the kard, the peshkabz was fully developed during the Safavid period (1501-1722) and was extensively used not only in Iran itself but also beyond, particularly in Central Asia, Afghanistan and those parts of the Indian subcontinent that were under Mughal influence.

LITERATURE: 1) Сіваченко Є. Холодна зброя Сходу з колекції Олександра Фельдмана: [фотоальбом]. – Харків, 2009. – С. 34; 2) Сіваченко Є. Холодна зброя Індії XVII-XIX століть із збірки Музею приватних колекцій Олександра Фельдмана: [каталог виставки]. – Харків, 2011. – С. 31; 3) Сиваченко Е. Сталь и Золото: Восточное оружие из собрания Feldman Family Museum = Steel and Gold: Eastern Weapons from the Feldman Family Museum Collection. – Киев, 2019. – С. 498-499, №203.