Tiflis armourer Khechatur

Early examples of Tiflis arms have always attracted attention of researchers and admirers of historical arms with their refinement, beauty and a high level of craftsmanship. Unfortunately, there is little information about craftsmen who produced this kind of arms. In the late 18th century and the early 19th century, in Tiflis lived and worked the highly skilled armourer Khechatur who had been considered a royal armourer since the time of Georgian kings. Although arms crafted by Khechatur are of exceptional quality, little is known about the master himself. Due to the lack of relevant materials, E. G. Astvatsaturyan also does not mention him in her famous monograph on Caucasian arms. This article is an attempt to gather various data on Khechatur which allows to shed light on another interesting page of early Georgian arms production history.