wonderful Flyssa

[chregu]

hello together
This Flyssa gave me a friendly gestre shown!
shame, but can not be in the pictures do not see how wonderful this piece.
I'm happy for every information that I get this.
Handle material, wood, I tend to think rhino.
gruss chregu

[Flavio]

Hello
I think it's an older example of flissa, but i'm not expert (in general to be true ) on this kind of swords.... The handle from pics seems wood

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Chregu,
This truly is an attractive sword, and while it has a degree of age, it is most likely a 20th century interpretive traditional example, perhaps produced tribally in Kabyle regions. In Kabylia the acquisition of a sword by the young man has long been a kind of rite of passage. I would suggest perhaps this was made in that sense as while attractive, the detail is not as crisp as with those during the period of the known use of the form.

We have had many discussions on the flyssa through the years, with the usual opposing views on its probable origins. Whatever the case, it does not seem to be a weapon that was well established before the early 19th century. By the term 'flyssa' (French transliteration for the Iflysen tribes of the Kabyle Berbers, who were the tribal group apparantly producing these), the first reference is c.1827 in narrative by Spanish envoy.

The earliest example I have seen with provenance, and in the form we recognize in most in collections, was 1857 and captured by the French Foreign Legion in combat. It is noted by Camille Lacoste-Dujardin (1958) that by the 1860's the quality had begun to degrade, and while uncertain, it would seem thier actual use in general had greatly declined or ceased. As in many cases with edged weapons, thier traditional presence in tribal tradition probably remained in place well into the next century.

The hilt on this one seems wood, and the blade similar to Ottoman type swords of latter 19th c.into 20th c. . The early yataghans that are often suggested to have influenced original flyssa form were from 16th century and had a straight back with extremely deep belly blade.

I am attaching some illustrations of the typical flyssa hilt, which is an extremely stylized creature, often suggested to be a camel, at the pommel. Here can be seen the profuse geometric designs, especially the triangular linear motif, designed to protect against the evil eye in the folk religion of Berbers of these regions. Most of these designs and figures carry apotropaic properties, thus even when crudely done, the meaning prevails.

A very interesting piece which carries ethnographic native charm well.

All very best regards,
Jim


ref:
"Sabre Kabyles, Etude des Flyssa du Musee de l'Homme" by Camille Lacoste-Dujardin
Journal de la Societe des Africanistes
XXVIII , 1958

[TVV]

Chregu,

Very nice flyssa. As Jim has pointed out, the blade is quite similar to that of a yataghan. To me, from all the theories on the origin of the flyssa, the one which claims that it is derived from the yataghan has always seemed as the most plausible. Thus I can imagine this particular one being an example of a transitional form, and therefore possibly quite early.

As for the hilt, rhino horn can be tricky and there is no way of telling without seeing a picture of a side that is cut across the grain. Maybe a picture of the pommell would help.

Regards,
Teodor

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks Teodor
Actually, since it seems to be a 20th century weapon it would not actually be transitional though as the weapon form as represented in the mid 19th century examples I posted seems to have been well established by then. While the Kabyles were from what I understand never subjugated by the Ottomans, their influence was nevertheless profound among these tribes. As I mentioned, the rite of passage involving acquiring his own sword by a young man, and along with his 'fortune' or some semblance of financial stability, did not specify the sword to be a flyssa. In fact, the yataghan was extremely highly regarded, and there are certainly variant types that reflect some yataghan and some flyssa characteristics. To acquire an actual yataghan was considered very influential. It has been some time since this research was done, but these are points I recall.

This may be somewhat a hybrid in that sense, but again, it is not 'early' as it is probably 20th century. By this time, the well known style of flyssas had been largely collected, and fallen considerably out of use in warfare.

It seems crudely executed in the geometric designs, but this simply means they were probably applied by a tribal figure not necessarily advanced in craftsmanship. The meanings remain the same, and that is what is important.

All best regards,
Jim

[TVV]

Jim,

It seems to me that often we estimate age based on overall quality, which is not an absolutely certain method. Obviously, the older pieces that have survived tend to be those, whose owners found them worth keeping, or in other words, those that were of high quality.

This does not mean though that there were not cruder examples as one goes further back in time - just less of them were preserved.

I can see how the crude work on the blade can suggest a 20th century origin, but I am not sure it necessarily is a relatively new sword. It may be a crude, early version that for whatever reason made it to this day. The similarity to a yataghan to me is most intriguing and is the reason why I am not willing to write this off as a relatively moddern oddity.

To me, this looks like a very funtional blade, and actually much more functional than the longer versions of the flyssa, which seem to be terribly unbalanced. This particular one, on the other hand, would make a very nice chopper, just like shorter yataghans. It just seems too functional if you will for a 20th century piece, assuming that by this time, flyssas had lost their importance as weapons and were more of status symbols, as you point out.

Just a different perspective.

Best regards,
Teodor