From Afghanistan with Love

Ok this is a “mono Monday metal” so I hunted around the house for some stuff.

The placard speaks for itself, bought last year from a farm shop near Perth.

But the gun has a special story attached to it.

M bought it in Kabul over 40 years ago while travelling through Afghanistan (he was working in Karachi at the time and had gone on vacation to Afghanistan – as you did in those days).

He found it in an antique shop.
“It took two days of haggling and drinking endless cups of tea before I bought it for 5 dollars or £2.50,” he said.

It’s about 250 years old though the exact history of the gun is unknown but the metal mechanism reveals it was made in Birmingham and the carvings are those of Afghan tribesmen.

How it ended up in an Afghan gun to kill British people is unknown.

Most likely it was found in a weapon left by a dead British soldier and put into an Afghan gun, specially designed to be carried on either horseback or camel.

For a long time its been hidden away in the attic but now its been brought out again and I will hang it on the wall.

So thank you Monomonday !


Ps I like the idea that the image itself tells a different story.