Hi Gav,
Not Chamba - although the similarity is well noted and the similarity is what fascinated me in the first place.
This is not from anywhere near the Mandara mountains though - or even Nigeria for that matter (although I desperately want a Mandara piece, for those out there with them).
I've probably been enough of a tease. This was collected directly from the Lobi people (which is why I am lucky enough to have an exact tribal attribution and not have any guesswork involved
) in Burkina Faso. The group is mostly situated in that country as well as Ghana, where they originated from. They are not Islamic.
This is not a people known for swords. Which is why this piece surprised me. I have a takouba from the same group that appears largely ceremonial but this one, with a heavy duty iron blade and obvious signs of use seems to be a "user" although doubtless relegated to ceremonial functions later in life. Between this and various pieces from the Mandara area it seems to me more and more that these heavy, iron, diamond cross section blades are a style that was fairly widespread before Hausa/Sokoto economic and military dominance seems to have spread the takouba form pretty much everywhere.
I picked up the necessary cleaning supplies today and hopefully next week will have this one scrubbed up a bit better.
EDIT: While this was collected from the Lobi, I still have my doubts it originates with them. THey are known for bows and arrows not swords. An intriguing possibility is the Kenedougou empire which had a major offensive against the Lobi in the early 1800s. But that is a wild guess and I have no Kenedougou reference material to check it against.
Cheers,
Iain