A CAUCASIAN DAGGER (KINDJAL) Possibly Kuban region, North Caucasus, dated 1914 With double-edged spike blade with medial ridge, incised with five-pointed star within two roundels below the ricasso, the hilt with rounded terminal with three bosses and engraved niello and parcel-gilt silver plaques in the front, niello-inlaid stars and moon on silver ground in the back, the sheath with niello and parcel-gilt chased scrollwork decoration in the front, the reverse with niello-inlaid 'bow and arrow' motif, stars and a serpent, lower section with silver wire, dated 1914 and inscribed in Cyrillic characters 'A. P. Bedrosov', 53.8cm long. Bedrosov is a common surname in the Caucasian regions. Thus, a specific attribution would be hard to establish in this case. However, one Caucasian family bearing this surname that stood out particularly at the end of the 19th century/beginning of 20th century is the one of Isaac Petrovich (P.) Bedrosov. One of the most successful and travelled merchants in the inter-religious Kuban region, he established a tobacco company in the 1870s and named it P. Bedrosov and Sons in 1890s when his two sons joined his business and kept it running in the 20th century.