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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 83
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Dear lovers of African and European swords, I add a kaskara with a european blade. It is unusual because it has a curved blade that is unsuaul for a kaskara. There is a maker mark at the forte that depict what to me look like a Roman soldier. The blade has a one
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 1,614
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Very nice sword Mauro, thank you for sharing with us. The knight marking is of Clauberg from Solingen. Blades by this maker were very prized on the Arab peninsula, based on info A. Alnakkas collected at local souks. I would not be able to tell you what years the mark without any writing around it was used, but if someone can then it might give some insight as to when the blade was produced. 19th century seems like a very reasonable estimate on age.
Saber blades on kaskara hilts are indeed very unusual and I even have a kaskara with a blade that was reworked from curved to straight. Perhaps in this case an exception was made due to the blade's high perceived value. |
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#3 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,287
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Is this style of fuller common or have a name or an era when it was popular?
I ask because I've a Malay sabre with the same style of fullers. |
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#4 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,893
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While clearly the kaskara used by native forces in the Sudan preferred the broadsword blade, many significant figures (chiefs or prominent) seem to have adopted the curved saber in varying degree in accord with Arab sabers such as shamshirs etc. Last edited by Jim McDougall; 16th April 2023 at 09:57 PM. |
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#5 | |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 1,340
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 407
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Mauro,
You have a very nice saber, but please don't call me too stuffy if I can't call it a Kaskara. As we accept, the kaskara is a double edged straight broad sword with a signature forged iron cross guard and scabbard. Your saber has a cast copper alloy cross guard in the Ottoman style often seen on Thuluth inscribed swords in the otherwise kaskara style. Agreed in the 18th C & early 19th C elites across the Sahel used imported sabers, but they gave way once European trade blades flooded Sudan from the early 19th C. onward. During this period the iconic kaskara style emerged and solidified. Does your saber has a scabbard? Its style could support the saber's origin. Best, Ed |
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#7 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 477
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That double fuller going into a quadruple fuller reminds me of this Aceh peudeung blade, except for the tip and the smaller ricasso. Does anyone know if these Indonesian sword blades were inspired by those (presumably older) blades? It seems a bit specific to be a coincidence.
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#8 | |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 1,340
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#9 | |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 477
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#10 | |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
Posts: 1,036
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Back to the subject of this thread, saber blades with this fuller pattern were widely exported to the East from Europe. You see slightly curved ones mounted up as Caucasian shashkas. More deeply curved blades with widened back-edges in the tip regions are occasionally seen on Ottoman and Balkan hilts. They were used within Europe, as well. Here is one fitted up as a Polish or Hungarian hussar saber: |
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#11 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 477
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Ah interesting, thanks. I'm guessing that saber looks 18th century? How far back does the split fuller practice go?
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