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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
Nice example which I recall from a couple of years ago. These swords from Yemen seem to, in my opinion, be ersatz weapons which were refurbished for tribal use in these regions during the considerable strife and conflicts there since after WWI. I am not nearly well versed enough in Arabian history to describe these complex events, but do know that many types of these hilts on varying blades out of Red Sea trade regions exist. The interpretation of the 'karabela' style hilt was much favored in these Arabian regions and I cannot recall the term which Ibrahiim noted they were called by.
The blade on this one appears to be of the form often occurring in regions of the Sudan in the last quarter of the 19th c. possibly slightly earlier, and are often attributed to the Solingen maker Clauberg, though certainly not necessarily all of them are. The same type blades have been seen on the Omani 'kattara' of the form now revealed to be ceremonial swords or merchants dress swords of Muscat.
These centrally fullered blades seem to have interpretations of certain European markings such as the cross and orb, as well as these crescent moon and star grouping. This particular moon and stars mark was used by the Schnitzler & Kirshbaum makers of Solingen in variation on trade cutlass blades from about mid 19th century well into probably late 19th. Just as many of the cross and orb interpretations reflect variation by native artisans the configuration of these moon and stars does as well.
Some of the so called 'Zanzibar nimchas' have blades with similar marks,and I would point out that these type swords are among those which seem to have been brought to Yemen during these troublesome events and insurgencies. The cutlass blade types of these karabela hilt examples have the same profile and these kinds of marks seen on this one.
Good example of a tribal fighting sword which may have seen long use well into the 20th century, and I think excellent representation of just how long the sword saw, and very much continues to see use in many ethnographic regions.
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Hi Jim,
Nice to see you are OK and still have all four wheels on the ground with all the terrible storms the US is having.
Once again a concise reply to the subject, and the possible attribution of the marks on the blade. After close inspection, I do notice that there is a very faint sign that BOTH sides of the blade had 3 moons and stars. The top two on one side have almost disappeared thru wear, but are definitely there....just!
I agree also the with the continuing unrest over the ages, both internationally, and tribally, these blades have often been recycled and are likely much older than the hilt. I would probably date this sword as being early to mid 20th century, but that the blade is likely quite a bit older than that. Dating these things is only a guess really, as most could have been put together at any time they were needed for combat. The hilt on this one I believe is of better quality than most, as it is nicely decorated with silver, and has been made from horn of some sort, though not rhino. Hilts of these swords could be made from anything suitable to hand, such as aluminium. I have an aluminium hilted sword in my collection, and others with aluminium used as decoration instead of silver.
Regards Stu