ARMENIAN KINDJAL QUADDARA CA.1850

This wonderful quaddara was acquired this piece at a Rhode Island estate sale. From the 1850s onwards, Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts became a new home to many Armenian families fleeing from the Imperial Russia, Turkey, Persia, and later on, Soviet Union. 

Blade is 64 cm long, 47 mm wide, straight, single-edged, with a rounded back; three fullers on each side are etched with the flowering vines and serpentine ornaments, the same decoration as on the Armenian qama that was purchased in the same auction. It is entirely plausible that, based on the identical blade decorations and the fact that both pieces were purchased by me in the same sale, both pieces were originally ordered by the same person, and stayed in the family. Hilt is mounted in Georgian style, with two protruding cylindrical rivet heads on top and bottom of grip, and a tear-shaped one in the middle.
An outstanding piece, and more than deserving to stay together with the qama, its companion for the past 150 years.