Indo Persian bow - lower limb nock

[Stig_Losnegaard]

Sometimes is quicker to ask than to look for it yourself.

When I was in Wawel castle (Krakow, Poland) the other day I saw
a bow in the Ottoman collection. The label said "Indo Persian 18th century"
if I remember correctly.

The nock on the lower limb however was more the shape of an "arrow nock"
at the end of a shorter siyah.
I haven't noticed this before.

Is there a thread here somewhere where this type of nock is mentioned
or is it simply for adjusting brace height?

[jack farrell]

It may have been that the nock was damaged and/or repaired. Was that bow posted here before?

There is such a repaired bow in the Grayson collection and is very confusing until examined closely.

There is also a rare variation on some bows, including Indo-Persian, where a nock is forked to allow an arrow to be picked
up from the ground without dismounting from horseback. There was such a bow for sale in England from the Long? gallery. -j-

[Stig_Losnegaard]

Yes maybe it was repaired.
It was probably an optical illusion with
the shortened and flattened siyah that made
the nock look more "intended". I got the feeling
it seemed broader than the upper siyah and therefore
asumed it was made that way.

Unfortunately I didn't get to take pictures of it.

[Bede]

Stig,
Broken nocks are unfortunately common on Indo-Persian bow. The tips of the bows are usually reinforced with horn and as they get older the horn can be eaten away. The fragile tip then breaks when the bow is handled or when someone tries to brace it.

Adam might comment on this. I sometimes wonder if some of these bows were modified in their working lives by having their nocks enlarged to take bulkier strings.