I want to say that I'm grateful to all of you for the very helpful replies. I had a few more photos taken which you can view here (I won't post them all in the thread to save space):
http://picasaweb.google.com/iain.nor...at=directlink#
Including a few with a typical Tuareg takouba for comparison.
Jim,
Thank you for the warm welcome, I think I can safely say that after reading your posts for a few years, you have more than just "dabbled" with takouba. I think you have a very good point about the possibility of it being a ceremonial piece, but more on that below...
Martin,
Zdravím z Prahy. Je skvělé vědět, že jsou v zemi i další sběratelé! Thank you for the insights and the possible tribal attribution of Hausa. I think you may be correct. I found several pieces that appear to correspond in terms of the cast hilt work:
And the overall form:
http://www.shikra.de/Africa.Voodoo-C...1.html?imgID=0
Tim,
Yes, the blade is heavier than most and less flexible. I think the new pictures show that off a bit better. There might be some merit to Jim's suggestion that this could be ceremonial piece. However I am surprised in that case that it shows signs of having been sharpened at some point as I thought I had read, although I could well be wrong, that typically such pieces were left blunt. Could anyone direct me towards references or preferably pictures of other such ceremonial pieces?
The decorative form on the knife you posted looks to be a great match stylistically. I assume the knife is Hausa?
I think we can definitely agree now that it looks to be Hausa. I want to thank all of you again, my reference library is extremely thin so this forum is invaluable for researching new pieces.
As a side note, I wanted to ask if any of you own or have read "The African Knights: The Armies of Sokoto, Bornu and Bagirmi in the Nineteenth Century" by Cairns? Is it worth purchasing? The description indicates it has a decent assortment of photos and drawings.
Best regards,
Iain