Persian Composite Bow ?

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:14 pm

Dear all,

Do you know what archeological / historical data this bow is based on ? :

http://www.radpour.com/persian-bow

To me it looks like a Rashid-ed-Din replica / Mongolian empire era bow (i.e. Shiluustei Sum curved bow, Omongov bow, Tsagaan Khad bow).

Thanks for comments !
Uli

Zack · Post by **Zack** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:24 pm

It looks like Grozer Persian .
Perhaps it is just fiberglass bow.

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:56 pm

hehe indeed..

anyway, I am not aware of a reference or similar that shows a "persian" bow like this ..

the rare "persian" bows in JSAA or museums either look like
- a small crab bow or
- an extremely wide-limbed turkish bow
- a crimean tatar bow

anyone knows better ?

Zack · Post by **Zack** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:59 pm

It is on Grozer page with bows.
I had one and was not impressed.

redhawk · Post by **redhawk** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:47 am

That can?t be true: fakes are getting more true than real bows?
By the way: the bow is badly tillered
Michael

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:51 am

From the Persian bows I have seen in person and in photographs, I have never seen one with a curved grip on the belly side.

Zoran Pavlovic · Post by **Zoran Pavlovic** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:22 pm

I do not know what bow they wanted to replicate but amazing similarity to Omnogov bow or even Siluustei sum pattern.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:06 am

Perhaps the real problem is that there was not just one Persian bow since there were many periods of bow development in the long history of Iran and, to make thinks more complicated, the Persian manuals I have been studying clearly indicate that during any one era, there were several distinct bow types in use.

The resemblance to some bows from Mongolia in the IlKhanid period is easily explained since the Mongols brought their bows with them and undoubtedly Persian bowyers learned how to make them to supply the local Mongol forces. Previous to that time, the strong Central Asian Turkish presence in Iran would have introduced the Old Turkish style of bow. A close examination of the miniatures of the 1300s shows that the artists had difficulty in seeing beyond the surface decoration to identify the different profiles of the two types of bow.

Later in the Safavid dynasty, the extensive recruitment of Qizilbash soldiers from eastern Anatolia undoubtedly had an influence on the shape of the bows in Western Iran, but the construction of surviving bows from that period shows the distinctive Persian method of using multiple strips for the belly horn and enclosing the whole limb in sinew instead of leaving the belly bare.

Those bows show a greater reflex near the grip than Ottoman bows and a slightly greater reflex near the kasan eye. The grip reflex was similar in degree to crab bows but the kasan eye reflex was less. The internal structure was different in the ears, as well, as Balfour's dissections show. This distribution of the reflex can only be seen in bows that have retained their reflex. Ones that have been strung for years in museums look different. As I mentioned above, despite the reflex in the arm either side of the grip, the belly of the grip was straight in profile.

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:22 pm

thanks Bede for your explanation

Dusan · Post by **Dusan** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:21 am

Interestin pic from one of this slide show pics coming in mails everyvhere in world.This time from Iran- old Persia.

not very clear visible ... Teheran Niavaran palace

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:02 am

I am not sure but I think that bow may have been in the background of an interview that David Frost did with the Shah in 1975 for a program called Crossroads of Civilization. I remember the interview took place in the Gulistan Palace.