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#1 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Wirral
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This is a lance I have had in my collection since the nid 80s . It is almost exactly the same as the one in Liverpool Museums ethnographic colection which features a Bornu horseman complete with a lance of this type, takouba and padded armour. Mine is 10' long o/a , with a 2' head, and 1'9'' heel . The hardwood shaft is just over 1'' diameter. The blade has a strong median ridge and geometric designs.
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#2 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Olomouc
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Hi,
I think this could be Bornu. The markings don't give much of a clue, these simple geometric patterns could be attributed to any number of groups in the area. Bornu, Kanem, Hausa cities, Mandingo, Mossi, all used similar cavalry lances. I usually go with the label Sahel when in doubt. I'm not sure there's much reference material for these, beyond the more distinctive Tuareg and Fulani examples. This seems to be a nice sturdy piece and always a pleasant surprise to see an example that hasn't been cut down. Thanks for posting it, I feel like these are an important part of the Sahel panoply that tend to get ignored for the more glamorous swords and daggers. |
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#3 | |
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Location: Wirral
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#4 | |
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Here are some pics of the iron butt of the lance that I should have included originally . The length of the butt is 54 cm . It is spear headed at the end , then round cross sectioned , then square cross sectioned and finally as it joins the shaft it is round again , gradually swelling . |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Olomouc
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Thanks Richmond! Always good to see these details as it helps to develop some sense of how to distinguish between the lances.
This is quite different obviously then from the flat and flared butts encountered on Tuareg and in fact most other lances I have seen from the region. Great reference for the future! |
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#6 |
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Hello,
Finally - after some years of asking re origin of this spear here in Nigeria, the spear should be comming from Katsina, Sokoto, Kano Emirates. |
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#7 |
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I just would like to add, that in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11889
I described the same spear as from Adamawa (because the seller told me so that time). After then I saw several others, some of them in Kano, and the prevalent opinion of local people was Katsina, Sokoto. Nevertheless, the most important for the assignation would be, I think, link to some old author... BTW - I have never seen particularly this spear complete in Nigeria - always only very rusty spearheads. I think this complete type of spear, i.e. with the shaft, is rare already. (When the local "antique-vendors" travel to the bush to bring new items for their antique shops in Abuja or Lagos, and they find complete spear, they always break off the spearhead. The reason is they are afraid of the many army check points on the roads and it is possible to hide spearhead better than the whole spear) |
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#8 |
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Nice spear - but I don't think the iron butt part belongs - it looks like the butt from an East African Masai or similar spear that has added.
Regards. |
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#9 | |
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#10 | |
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You may well be right Colin , I will visit Liverpool Museum and compare their example's butt section, and report back, Richmond |
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#11 | |
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#12 | |
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Does anyone have an image of this Bornu cavalryman with spear and takouba display? |
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#13 |
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my maasai lion spear has a long butt spike with a round tapered blunt end that trasitions to square before the round socket.
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#14 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greenville, NC
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Lovely spear! I love these elongated elegant spearheads with the central rib. I am guessing this one is quite heavy? Is it suitable for throwing?
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#15 | |
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![]() Lighter examples were made to be thrown and a rider would carry three or so. To get a sense of why you don't want to try to throw something this big see this thread for one of mine with comparison shots next to swords for a sense of scale http://vikingsword.com/vb/showpost.p...93&postcount=7 ![]() |
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