Antique 17th - 18th Century Ukrainian Cossack Riding Whip Nagaika Нага́йка

Antique 17th - 18thcentury Ukrainian Cossack horse riding whip "Nagaika" (нага́йка). It is composed of a copper shaft bound in the middle by thin brass spiral straps, the lower part is bound with leather, pierced with a hole, and mounted with its original suspension leather belt. The upper part of the copper shaft is reinforced by two narrow iron strips stamped with small stars and secured by brass bolts.

It has a finely braided rawhide lash adorned with leather fringes wrapped with brass bands and secured by iron rivets with brass washers.

This is a typical Ukrainian Cossack's Nagaika of massive construction made for military use. It has a robust copper shaft with iron straps and a heavy braided rawhide lash.
The Nagaika, with its main purpose of urging a horse and its secondary function as a weapon in close combat when other weapons were not available or as a left-hand weapon with a saber, similar in form to the traditional weapon flail (Кистень).

MEASUREMENTS:
The length of the shaft is 45 cm (17.72 inches).

CONDITION: It shows signs of aging and use. The copper shaft and brass straps have old patina iron strips that are corroded. The braided rawhide lash has lost its tip, in which a piece of metal was sewn inside.

REFERENCES: A similar 17th century Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossacks Nagaika which belonged to the Zaporozhian Cossacks Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s is in the collection of The Foundation of the Czartoryski Princes at the National Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Please see the link below:

https://ukraine-21century.com/en/projects/internat...

We will also provide the buyer with photocopies of the pages from the mentioned references together with a certificate of authenticity.