A little Sahel/Maghreb panoply...

[CharlesS]

Hi Iain,

That's stamp probably goes further in pinpointing the origin of these than anything else I have seen on paper!! Now if we could only acquire the correct regional name for these??!!

What a great find and thanks for sharing!

[Iain]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Hi Iain,

That's stamp probably goes further in pinpointing the origin of these than anything else I have seen on paper!! Now if we could only acquire the correct regional name for these??!!

What a great find and thanks for sharing!

I had a bit of a look last night, but didn't turn up anything yet. If there is a record it's likely going to be in French I think. Sadly not a language I get on particularly well with!

[Iain]

It's a nice afternoon here and I was bored, so another group shot just for fun. This time focused on the flat native blade type.

Sadly I have the one brass hilt in this pic with the presentation face of the guard not showing and I forgot to put another one into the shot.

[Iain]

Just another one that came in the post yesterday.

Photos aren't all that great, wife took the good camera out for the day and I was stuck using my mobile phone.

The blade on this one is a rather poor local one. Not a particularly convincing combat weapon, but the hilt is very nice. The grip is unusually a wood core and the pommel is exceptionally large.

Typical rustic imitations of the half moon marks and narrow little decorative fullers. There's a bit of flex to the blade, but it seems to be a local iron product and is not very sharp.

[AhmedH]

Dear Iain,

Thanks a lot for posting this. The swords are very good looking, and I'm a die-hard fan of straight double-edged swords. But could you please talk more about them? From which centuries do their blades date? The date of their hilts? Please tell us more; as I find myself interested in knowing more about those swords.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Ahmed Helal Hussein

[Iain]

Originally Posted by AhmedH

Dear Iain,

Thanks a lot for posting this. The swords are very good looking, and I'm a die-hard fan of straight double-edged swords. But could you please talk more about them? From which centuries do their blades date? The date of their hilts? Please tell us more; as I find myself interested in knowing more about those swords.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Ahmed Helal Hussein

Thanks for your interest Ahmed.

Dating takouba is not an exact science. Very little to know pictorial evidence exists before the 19th century and accounts form travelers to these regions may mention swords, but almost never describe their appearance.

Examples with firm collection dates are not available before the early 19th century as well, due to the colonial campaigns within these areas.

That being said, many blades can be dated to some degree if they are European in origin and generally speaking hilts an be dated early to pre 19th century, or after.

In terms of blades I have an example from the mid 14th century, the mid 16th century, mid 17th, several from the 18th etc. So it is quite varied.

With hilts, personally I believe the style has remained somewhat static for quite some time, however it is very difficult to be certain how these swords looked in say 1650.

On top of that, blades were and are frequently remounted, meaning a blade and hilt combination is unlikely to be original by the time it ends up in collector's hands.

All the best,
Iain

[AhmedH]

Originally Posted by Iain

Thanks for your interest Ahmed.

Dating takouba is not an exact science. Very little to know pictorial evidence exists before the 19th century and accounts form travelers to these regions may mention swords, but almost never describe their appearance.

Examples with firm collection dates are not available before the early 19th century as well, due to the colonial campaigns within these areas.

That being said, many blades can be dated to some degree if they are European in origin and generally speaking hilts an be dated early to pre 19th century, or after.

In terms of blades I have an example from the mid 14th century, the mid 16th century, mid 17th, several from the 18th etc. So it is quite varied.

With hilts, personally I believe the style has remained somewhat static for quite some time, however it is very difficult to be certain how these swords looked in say 1650.

On top of that, blades were and are frequently remounted, meaning a blade and hilt combination is unlikely to be original by the time it ends up in collector's hands.

All the best,
Iain

Dear Iain,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I would be very much interested in seeing that blade which dates back to the 14th century CE, and compare it with other Arab blades contemporary to it. I'd also like to know how much these blades looked alike; from the 14th to the 19th century, and how they differed.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Best regards,
Ahmed Helal Hussein