6th December 2010, 05:14 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greensboro, NC
Posts: 1,084
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Unusual Arab Islamic African sword with inscription
From my private collection is an interesting sword that seems to show multiple cultural influences so its exact origin is a bit of a mystery to me so I figure this is a good place to start a discussion. The silver work in the entire piece remind me very much of Arab work. All the leather remind me very much of Sudanese work. The blade, however, seems more tribal African to me as far as the decorations and workmanship of the blade. It is a very good blade, but not of the quality of locally produced Arab or African pieces. There is an Islamic inscription on each side of the blade that hopefully can be translated and add to the story. It is very well preserved but given the oral provenance received on the piece I would place it in the late 19th century. When I first saw it, I thought it might be an Omani one-of but there are enough peculiarities to it, I'm not so sure but I definitely see the Arab influence in the silver work. In any case, I have not run across a similar example before and look forward to your thoughts on origin.
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