Latest takouba for comment

Marc M. · 18th October 2020, 04:52 PM

Hi

My latest takouba. A well made sword, both blade and scabard are of fine workmanship. I think that the handle and scabard are what we call modern, probably last quarter 20 century, a classic stacked pommel and a crossguard with decorations off leather and metal. Richly decorated scabard and mounts.
The blade is verry well made, a strong blade with some flex, thicker than my other takouba's. A single wide central fuller and two narrow fullers on each side. In the central fuller on both sides are engraved native markings; snake, lion, 3 stars and some words, translation is welcome. Blades with this kind off fullers are rare, two on Ian's site takoube.org. The tip off the blade is special, carps tongue named i believe.
I have no idea off age, but what i have found is that the blade could be older than the 20 century. So i hope that the more knowledged members about takouba's on the forum share their thoughts on this one.

Greetings
Marc

Lee · 19th October 2020, 10:20 AM

A very nice takouba indeed! I believe that your assessment in dating is correct, the mounts from the last half century and a blade from the 19th century or even earlier. It is not at all uncommon to find old heirloom blades in much more recent mounts within this culture. I do not know about today, but from personal observations during travel to the area a couple of decades ago, these were still routinely being worn on a daily basis in places. Some of my oldest takouba blades are in the newest mounts in my collection and this should not be unexpected wherever such an artifact actively remains in use.

(I presented a number of the examples I collected with similar engraved motifs back in the UBB days on this forum and you can still find those threads by using the archive.org way-back-when-machine. The originals remain locked down because of malicious corruption and are awaiting manual repair and restoration.)

Marc M. · 19th October 2020, 06:23 PM

Hi Lee
Thanks for the comment, i tried to find your photo's in the way back when machine but not so successful yet.
Greetings
Marc

Yvain · 19th October 2020, 06:58 PM

Interesting sword Marc ! Nice blade indeed, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, did you bought it from a French auction house by any chance ?

Surprisingly, this is not the first blade with those type of markings that I see in newer, Agadez style, mounts. One would need to look into this deeper, but there seems to be a lot of takouba bearing the snake and lion (most likely locally applied) coming from Niger. Here is 3 examples from Norman's website, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others elsewhere :

- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-37
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-98
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-101

Note how they all have the lion and snake in various configurations and styles amongst other symbols, all of them in rather recent Nigerien mounts.

Marc M. · 20th October 2020, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yvain

Interesting sword Marc ! Nice blade indeed, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, did you bought it from a French auction house by any chance ?

Surprisingly, this is not the first blade with those type of markings that I see in newer, Agadez style, mounts. One would need to look into this deeper, but there seems to be a lot of takouba bearing the snake and lion (most likely locally applied) coming from Niger. Here is 3 examples from Norman's website, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others elsewhere :

- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-37
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-98
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-101

Note how they all have the lion and snake in various configurations and styles amongst other symbols, all of them in rather recent Nigerien mounts.

Hi Yvain
I bought it on catawiki from a Belgian seller and, yes these markings are not all
that rare, i was referring to the fuller combination, one single wide fuller
flanked by two narrow ones, not so common. Trying to find out what the meaning is off these markings.
Greetings
Marc

Lee · 19th October 2020, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc M.

Hi Lee
I tried to find your photo's in the way back when machine but not so successful yet.

I am not finding it either. Give me some time and I will re-photograph the sword I am thinking of with the snake and lion on an older blade in Agadez style silver mounts - it may be a week or two however.

Marc M. · 20th October 2020, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee

I am not finding it either. Give me some time and I will re-photograph the sword I am thinking of with the snake and lion on an older blade in Agadez style silver mounts - it may be a week or two however.

No worries, i'm going nowhere.
Greetings
Marc

Interested Party · 22nd October 2020, 04:17 PM

Congratulations. It is an interesting blade. Can anyone tell me about the age and method of this type of engraving? Except for the lion these engravings have a stimpled look. Is the stimple the method in and of itself or is it a byproduct of hitting a graving tool with a mallet? I've seen it on other blades, notably yagathan's with an Anatolian look where it seemed a later addition, but on this blade it seemed consistent with other manufacturing techniques. The 3rd picture from the bottom, that begins with a star, when I first saw it reminded me of Allah written seven times in a row, but when I looked closer I thought not. I would love a clearer detail of the silver work on the chape.

18th October 2020, 04:52 PM	#1
Marc M. Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Belgium Posts: 158	Latest takouba for comment Hi My latest takouba. A well made sword, both blade and scabard are of fine workmanship. I think that the handle and scabard are what we call modern, probably last quarter 20 century, a classic stacked pommel and a crossguard with decorations off leather and metal. Richly decorated scabard and mounts. The blade is verry well made, a strong blade with some flex, thicker than my other takouba's. A single wide central fuller and two narrow fullers on each side. In the central fuller on both sides are engraved native markings; snake, lion, 3 stars and some words, translation is welcome. Blades with this kind off fullers are rare, two on Ian's site takoube.org. The tip off the blade is special, carps tongue named i believe. I have no idea off age, but what i have found is that the blade could be older than the 20 century. So i hope that the more knowledged members about takouba's on the forum share their thoughts on this one. Greetings Marc Attached Images

19th October 2020, 10:20 AM	#2
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 913	Nice! A very nice takouba indeed! I believe that your assessment in dating is correct, the mounts from the last half century and a blade from the 19th century or even earlier. It is not at all uncommon to find old heirloom blades in much more recent mounts within this culture. I do not know about today, but from personal observations during travel to the area a couple of decades ago, these were still routinely being worn on a daily basis in places. Some of my oldest takouba blades are in the newest mounts in my collection and this should not be unexpected wherever such an artifact actively remains in use. (I presented a number of the examples I collected with similar engraved motifs back in the UBB days on this forum and you can still find those threads by using the archive.org way-back-when-machine. The originals remain locked down because of malicious corruption and are awaiting manual repair and restoration.)

22nd October 2020, 04:17 PM	#8
Interested Party Member Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Eastern Sierra Posts: 467	Engravings Congratulations. It is an interesting blade. Can anyone tell me about the age and method of this type of engraving? Except for the lion these engravings have a stimpled look. Is the stimple the method in and of itself or is it a byproduct of hitting a graving tool with a mallet? I've seen it on other blades, notably yagathan's with an Anatolian look where it seemed a later addition, but on this blade it seemed consistent with other manufacturing techniques. The 3rd picture from the bottom, that begins with a star, when I first saw it reminded me of Allah written seven times in a row, but when I looked closer I thought not. I would love a clearer detail of the silver work on the chape.

19th October 2020, 06:23 PM	#3
Marc M. Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Belgium Posts: 158	Hi Lee Thanks for the comment, i tried to find your photo's in the way back when machine but not so successful yet. Greetings Marc

19th October 2020, 06:58 PM	#4
Yvain Member Join Date: May 2017 Location: France Posts: 178	Interesting sword Marc ! Nice blade indeed, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, did you bought it from a French auction house by any chance ? Surprisingly, this is not the first blade with those type of markings that I see in newer, Agadez style, mounts. One would need to look into this deeper, but there seems to be a lot of takouba bearing the snake and lion (most likely locally applied) coming from Niger. Here is 3 examples from Norman's website, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others elsewhere : - http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-37 - http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-98 - http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-101 Note how they all have the lion and snake in various configurations and styles amongst other symbols, all of them in rather recent Nigerien mounts.