How to id a European kaskara blade?

[Iain]

Hi Jim and Chris,

Time to add some more of my own ramblings then.

Mainly I want to touch on an important point Jim raises regarding export blade blanks. One of the main issues I have trying to research and determine what is a trade blade boils down to the fact that some blades are nicely marked for us. Does this mean unmarked blades were not produced for the African market in Solingen? We really have little to go on but the old fall back of how a particular sword "feels". I have wondered if there are any records that could be checked on product and export. If a German member wants to get involved to help out please contact me.

In terms of a ricasso being necessary to term a blade European, I don't think so. I have seen a few of the Kull 1847 style pattern and none have ricassos, also blades from Clauberg without like this one: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10557

Incidentally that Clauberg blade has the same style of fuller and from rereading the thread should at least predate 1872...

Cheers,

Iain

[Jim McDougall]

Good points Iain, and good note on the pre 1872 Clauberg with this kind of fuller. It seems that the ricasso presence would most likely be with the type blades destined for the regulation military pattern swords for which Solingen was a primary source. These were of course for numerous countries and the ricasso along with other particular blade features were probably set with the type swords they were intended for.
If there were blanks fashioned for native commerce they would not have had to meet such stringent requirements, and as they were not exactly of the regular standards makers may have left them unmarked. These perspectives are of course purely speculative, especially as we presume all trade blades were usually marked and of higher quality in accord with the product standards long in place.

If I understand correctly, the advent of the Industrial Revolution brought more production for many types of materials, including of course sword blades, and production volume in various countries detracted from Solingens exports for regulation type blades. Solingen sought other outlets to augment falling requirements for thier products and I believe began marketing into colonial settings among others. It would be interesting if we could find records of blade exports from Germany into colonial regions in this latter 19th century to early 20th period.

These type blades are certainly far from the triple fullered, usually thuluth covered examples we normally see from the Mahdist period, and which seem to have continued for a time during the Khalifa.

All the best,
Jim

[Mefidk]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Good points Iain, and good note on the pre 1872 Clauberg with this kind of fuller.

Iain was right on the money in fact!

Some observations on the four kaskara blades I currently own (Fig 1). I have given the attributions as far as I know it (or feel fairly sure). I hope these might be useful, and perhaps others could contribute to the data? I've used figure numbers which I know will vanish in the post, but I have also attached (or tried to) a pdf with figures and captions for reference (if its hard to work out which figure is which).

Firstly Kaskara 1, the blade shown in the thread earlier with the crocodile hilt (and scabbard - not shown). Cleaning under the langet and some rather tricky photography resulted in its identification as a W. Clauberg blade (see Figs 2 & 3 - showing al askeri = the soldier or standing knight & what I believe to be W CLAUBERG, although the W CL is the only part that is clear). In this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10557 it was suggested this mark was used up to 1872 and primarily before 1850. So we have a reasonable idea of the date range.

In the following I have focused on the blades rather than hilt of scabbards since these seem to be refurbished often and so little can be gained from determining that the hilt is new (although an entire old hilt would possibly be more telling). An old guard may tell us little.

Having established the Clauberg we have a basis to work from to examine the other blades. So firstly some comparative measurements including a somewhat standardized measure of flex (since this seems to crop up often). I measured flex as the deviation in mm from horizontal at 46cm down the blade when a 4cm wide 2.1kg weight is placed at 46-50cm . It is necessary to tape a small piece of wood to the blade to stop the weight sliding down and off the blade as it bends. Other measures were using a micrometer with an accuracy of 0.05mm or ruler to nearest 1mm.
Measurements

Kaskara 1 (Clauberg Blade, Crocodile skin grip) :
Flex 50mm
Length: 860mm
Width (base) 36.90mm
Thickness (5cm from base) 5.30mm
Fuller: 15 x 212mm. Does not extend to the hilt starting 17mm from blade base.
Marked: Enigmatic mark, WCLAUBERG, standing knight
Ricasso: Yes, partially sharpened at base

Kaskara 2 (19C European Blade, 20C Kassala fittings) :
Flex 52mm
Length 932mm
Width (base) 44.15mm
Thickness (5cm from base) 4.15mm
Fuller: Full length, starting at the base of the blade 20mm wide.
Marked: None visible
Ricasso: Yes, blade partially sharpened at base.

Kaskara 3 (Native, Nile Valley? style hilt?) :
Flex 41mm
Length: 856mm
Width (base) 36.00 mm
Thickness (5cm from base): 4.95mm
Fuller: Three narrow central fullers, approx 3.3mm wide, central fuller 495mm, others approx 340mm. Start 4cm from blade base.
Marked: Half moons on either side
Ricasso: No, but lower edge of the blade is partially sharpened

Kaskara 4 (Rusty, Same style grip as Kaskara 3) :
Flex 51mm
Length 852mm
Width (base) 39.45mm
Thickness (5cm from base) 5.00 mm
Fuller: 144m wide 220mm long
Marked: Enigmatic mark either side.
Ricasso: No blade sharpened along whole length


Some thoughts. The ricasso on kaskara 1 and 2 is very weak, in kaskara 1 is only really visible on one side of the blade (Figs 4 & 5). Fig 6 shows another sword from another thread with a very similar blade profile, a clear ricasso, but also similar post-production sharpening. What is striking about kaskara 4 is that there is a clear edge sharpened all the way to the hilt. This is clear on Fig 7 where I've compared kaskara 1-4 sideways on looking at the base of the blade. It seems that repeated sharpening would wear away at both the ricasso shoulder but also at the unsharpened edge of the blade. It is also clear that either the bladesmith or subsequent user sharpened the whole of the blade, both sides. This may explain why native blades do not have a ricasso - they simply did not see a use for it.
For another potentially very old example see http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7668 This one has the same blade style as Kaskara 2, but if you look carefully (easiest with picture 3) I think it is clear that the ricasso has been ground off. Note the oblique grinding marks.

So to kaskara 4. Size, flex, fuller, markings match closely to the Clauberg blade, but no makers marks are visible. This blade has been very well used and sharpened many times. This is clear from the sharp edge that reaches the bottom of the blade and also the missing blade material in Fig 8. The blade profile is very different in the native blade as is the flex and general feel, so I am inclined to believe this is an old and well used European blade - but until I get it cleaned up and look for any residual marks under the rust I must admit the weight of evidence is not 100% compelling.
What would be interesting would be to know more of the dimensions and flex of other blades to see if there is some general rule of thumb that might arise (a sample of four is not very satisfying). Of course identifying routes and times for the trade blades arrival in the region would also be really useful, but very tricky.

Chris Topping

[Mefidk]

Oops, not entirely without technical hitches since the order of the pictures was altered - the first one is fig 6 and the other with no figure number is figure 8.
I've tried to attach the pdf to this post but seems like it does not want to do this

[RDGAC]

Hi all, just a quick post with a couple of things.

Firstly, just thought I'd mention that it might not be worth mentioning, re:the peg you've spotted on one of our four (specifically the one with the acid-treated or otherwise de-rusted blade), that, since the cross-guard was also treated in whatever did the job, I suspect that the sword was dismantled to perform the operation. This probably occurred many years ago, and it seems pretty likely that the peg may be a replacement put in after the process had been completed.

Secondly, and on a related note, is it worth trying to take the hilt off the example in question? I've noticed that, on the tab of metal positioned just below the downward arms of the cross-guard, there appears to be some kind of marking. Moreover, if there's any information on the tang, removing the grip would allow me to see that, too. It all looks very straightforward...

[Mefidk]

I think what is interesting about the peg is that it is not present on my rusty swords hilt, nor has it ever been. But there is a hole in the tang for a peg, hence my assumption that it has been rehilted at least once. Whoever re-hilted yours probably did a better job and replaced the peg.

Originally Posted by RDGAC

Secondly, and on a related note, is it worth trying to take the hilt off the example in question? I've noticed that, on the tab of metal positioned just below the downward arms of the cross-guard, there appears to be some kind of marking. Moreover, if there's any information on the tang, removing the grip would allow me to see that, too. It all looks very straightforward...

I wonder if whether you could do the same trick as I did and clean under the langet enough to be able to make out what, if anything, is written there? I used a scotch-brite pad gently for a while (its easy to pass under the tab and does not scratch the metal). Once I had the surface rust removed shining a light under there revealed the marks.
Personally I would not dismantle unless (as in my case) the hilt is already really loose. Also I just had to pull, no peg to remove.

What would be really great would be if we could get comparative measures for your blades too - start to build up a database. Its especially interesting because you have blades with provenance - I'm looking for a green with envy smiley right now

I think I can figure out how to make that flex test easy to replicate for others, so we all get comparable figures, if there would be any interest in that?

[Iain]

Hi Chris,

Please do post the system you are using for flex, more samples are obviously needed to draw conclusions and if the process is pretty simple I would hope others will participate.

I've just bought a kaskara which I hope will arrive in a week or two and may have one of the Clauberg blades (if I'm lucky) and I'll be happy to test it as well.

Chris, if you like I can host the PDF and put a link back here?

Cheers,

Iain

[Iain]

So I got the kaskara. Not a Clauberg, now I have no clue what it is!

First the dimensions.

Overall: 94cm
Blade: 81.5cm
Max blade width: 3.6cm

This seems close to the Clauberg you have Chris, but... I don't have the standing knight or letters. Under the guard on both sides I've got a strange, but very well executed wasp! Took the best photos of it I could. Blade seems pretty well made, good flexibility. Certainly some shoulders back towards the base and nicely sharpened.

It's a little smaller than some of the other kaskara I've had pass through my hand and the unknown stamp makes me wonder if the blade is native. However the mark is executed pretty darn well.

All thoughts comments appreciated.

Iain

[Mefidk]

Nice wasp Iain No idea what it means, but it does look very nicely executed.

Should be able to post my flex test over the weekend, so it would be interesting to see if the flex matches the Clauberg.

I can't see any sign of a residual ricasso on your pictures, but it does look as though it has been sharpened pretty aggressively at some point so I'm not sure that means anything. The one difference I can see is the depth of the fuller, but that may simply mean that this blade has not been mistreated as much as some of the others. In fact I'm wondering if this repeated sharpening might also be the cause of the shallow and wandering shape of the fullers on some of these old blades - on the other hand they might have been made that way