Sword, "Kilij" & Scabbard
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Nov 1885
label: Collection Date
content: 1832
name: label: Collector
content: Commodore Matthew C. Perry
label: Donor Name
content: U.S. Patent Office
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "General: In 1832 at Alexandria, Egypt there were given, by Ali Pasha, the Bey of Egypt, 13 scimiters to Commodore Mathew G. Perry [sic, this should be Matthew C. Perry] and his officers of the frigate Concord. of the U.S. Fleet. These came to the Patent Office collections without any designations between the items, and were later turned over to the U.S. Nat. Mus. where they were continued without individual cataloging, therefore the one original Mus. No. Though only one item was originally turned over to Ethnology and given the number 77,266, when the rest were transferred to Cult. Anthrop. in 1966 they are being given this same number with letters to afford each an individual catalog designation. This transfer is with the exception of one item which Mil. Hist. is retaining for exhibit purposes, in connection with Perry. So Cul. Anth. is obtaining 12 of the original 13 specimens. - R. Elder Refer: Stone: Glossary of Arms and Armor", p. 356-7, fig. 448. Description of this individual specimen: Long, thin, single-edged, back.curved steel blade mounted in a short light colored horn handle with a terminal knob recurved toward the sharpened edge. Guard of gold, extends equally on either side 6.8 cm, with small knob at end. Scabbard of wood covered in the middle with black pebbled leather, at both ends with sheet gold with incised decorations. Gold and maroon braided cord attached to two rings at upper end of scabbard. Middle of left side of the leather part of scabbard decorated with a narrow band of brass wire wound crosswise splits. Small open point on end. The guard that covers the split in the top of the back side of the scabbard (so sword can be drawn) is missing."
label: Notes
content: "Ali Pasha" would be Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha (Albanian: Mehmet Ali Pasha; Turkish: Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa), 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849. He was an Ottoman Albanian commander in the Ottoman army, who rose to the rank of Pasha, and became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan with the Ottomans' temporary approval. (Reference: Wikipedia contributors, "Muhammad Ali of Egypt," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muhammad_Ali_of_Egypt&oldid=731068410 (accessed July 28, 2016)).
label: Notes
content: Information from Leonid Lantsman, 2014: Fine 19th C. Ottoman shamshir. An exceptional example mounted in solid gold, likely 18kt or above. The grips are rhinocerous horn that have been treated with oil to become translucent enough that the inner fittings are visible. The blade displays a rich and vibrant wootz watered steel pattern. The grip features what appears to be the correct and original hanger as well as the original red cloth baldric.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Jul 2016
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Alexandria, Egypt, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Turkish
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 013152
label: USNM Number
content: E77266A-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sword/Sheath