African Three-Dagger sets

[Iliad]

Hi all,
Here are two more of the 15 items I bought 2 days ago. The seller's father, now deceased, visited northern Africa in 1920 and obtained this and other edged weapons. They have remained in the family for 92 years.
The seller thought, but was not sure, that these dagger sets were part of a chief's regalia and were worn on the chest. Can anyone provide more information about them?
Best,
Brian

[Iliad]

More photos

[Iliad]

A few more

[Lew]

Hi Brian



These daggers IMO do not look 92 yrs old to me? The hilts are poorly carved with no patina. The blade incisions are crude I would place these around 1950 or so not 1920. Anyway these sets of three daggers were geared towards the tourist trade back in the day. I never saw a photo with a warrior wearing this set of daggers

[katana]

Hi Brian,

have to agree with Lou, not as old as suggested by the seller.
I have a set of these which I believe are early 20th C ...maybe late 19th ?

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=sudanese

Regards David

[Congoblades]

(picture below) These three knives with sheath probably date to the time of Mohammed Ahmed (1848-85) and the (Mahdi) revolutionary insurrection against colonial rule in Sudan. The double-edged blades are engraved on both sides with Arabic calligraphy. The use of crocodile hide on the sheath may have offered powerful warrior energy to the owner.

Source:
http://searchcollections.brighton-ho...+skin&record=0

some more:
http://atkinson-swords.com/SwordsAnd...se_Knives.html

http://www.19thcenturyweapons.com/207/arab/sud3.html

[colin henshaw]

Hi

I've read this thread with interest. I've seen a lot of these flimsy, flat bladed Sudanese items with the acid etched "thuluth" over the years, and came to the conclusion that most if not all, were made post Anglo-Egyptian conquest of 1898, for resale to Europeans. As already noted, they are usually fairly crudely made, with blunt edges and I doubt if they were intended as real weapons.

There is a theory that within this genre, similar sheet iron "throwing knives" were made during the Mahdist era, for use by those elements of the Mahdist armies made up of black, non-Islamic warriors. So there is a possibilty these "tourist" items derived from this source - but thats only a theory... I would certainly like to see some hard documentary type of evidence to conclusively solve the origin of these objects.

Question : the sheet iron imported from Europe ??

[katana]

I posted this quote before..which suggests the souvenier trade was rife.....unfortunately the link no longer works ,

"....In the Sudan, Major E A De Cosson who served with Sir Gerald Graham's field force at Suakin in April 1888 noted how the local inhabitants entrepreneurially met the demand for souvenirs and war trophies. On the day the expedition was brought to a close, he 'rode into the town in the evening and found the streets thronged with officers buying souvenirs. The native population are waking up to the fact that money is to be made and the women and children offering their silver bangles for sale; shields and swords have run up to ?£5 a piece, and spears to ?£2 or ?£3. There is a little Italian who keeps a curiosity shop, a sort of niche in a wall, and he had new spears manufactured every day. They say an armourer on one of the ships turned an honest penny by making a lot of spear-heads and having them mounted, and that a batch of "real Soudan spears" has already been sent out from Birmingham.'

http://www.michaelstevenson.com/africanart/essay.htm

Regards David

[Iain]

Great reference and quote David! Many thanks for posting it, I hadn't run across it before.

The original link may be dead but the Way Back Machine has it!
http://web.archive.org/web/200802071...nart/essay.htm

[Lew]

As promised here are two higher quality examples courtesy of Charles.

[ariel]

The last one is dated 1125, ie 1713.
Mind if I express mild degree of disbelief? :-)