Berber Sword with Spanish Motto

[TVV]

I picked up this Berber sword and I set up to clean the blade tonight. I still have a lot to go, but under the rust an inscription started to appear. It reads "PARA LOS VALIENTES DOMINICANOS", and I guess this translates to "FOR THE BRAVE DOMINICANS". I have tried to take a picture, and you can probably barely make out the last few letters of "Dominicanos", but it is quite faint. I will try to take some better pictures once the sword is clean.
I think in a previous thread it was noted that these sabres originate from Spanish Morocco, and if this is the case I guess it is not so strange for a Spanish blade to appear on a sword of this type. I am wondering though, does "Dominicanos" refer to inhabitants of Haiti (Hispaniola), or just Dominican Missionaries? If it is the former, it could make quite a story, worthy of the worst eBay descriptions (although I have not quite figured out the Confederate link yet).
I would love to get your thoughts on this piece.
Thanks,
Teodor

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Teodor,
I'm not sure I can add anything to the interesting motto inscribed on your sabre, but I would like to see some discussion open on this intriguing sword form. While the general consensus over the years in discussions seem to hold that these are from Spanish Morocco, with pretty compelling support, I have been advised also that these are not Moroccan. It does seem interesting that examples of these have not ever been included in groupings of the weapons from Morocco in published material, and it does seem that these have expanded from complete obscurity into an established form in growing numbers over the past 20 years.

Probably the most fascinating consistancy in most of these, aside from the unusual stylized zoomorphic hilt, is that the blades are typically 19th century cavalry sabre blades (usually British M1796) with strangely profiled points.
To confound establishing identification even more, the scabbards these are typically mounted in have a curious perpandicular extension, similar to those seen on Ethiopian shotels (mounted with military sabre blades) as seen in "African Arms & Armour".

It seems that around the end of the 19th c. and into the 20th, certain very unusual forms of edged weapons began to appear in Spanish or Latin American settings. Perhaps these were ersatz weapons put together from available surplus, but where is unclear. Another form of munitions grade sword with often crude blades and brass hilts with exaggerated finger stalls is known, and I have seen these identified as Mexican, and even Algerian, but lastly as 'bringbacks' from Cuba during the Spanish American War.
These unusual 'Berber' sabres, I have seen included in groupings of swords from Mexico, so I am wondering if these might have evolved in the situation I have described.

Or, are these indeed from Morocco, and is the decorative motif seen on hilts or mountings consistant with Moroccan work?

What we need is contemporary photographic evidence of these being carried or provenanced examples.

Best regards,
Jim

[fernando]

Hi Teodor, may i come in ?
It's nice when things come to make sense.
It was expectable that, sooner or later, questions would be raised on this piece being Berber or Moroccan, as Jim expertly did.
As you well suspected, it would be implausible that the inscription was made over there, as alusive to the missionaries, and rather logic that it is Latin American work, as directed to the Dominican People in their strugle for independence.
Actually Dominicans and Franciscans have been in the Magreb, in their attempt to convert the locals ( first incursion was in the XIII century ) but never had time to warm up their seats . It is known that some ended up executed by the sword, but i don't see the locals humor so sharp as to inscribe such phrase in their swords, even considering these missionaries were really valiant ... or crazy .

[Tim Simmons]

Can you remember the last one discussed, I said the handle looked like something from Timor. Well that one or another in that thread had a scabbard not that far away from Latin American mechete today.

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you very much Fernando !

Tim, I vaguely recall that discussion and it seems that there has been some interesting support for certain Moroccan attributed weapons to possibly have actually derived from the Indonesian or Malayan regions. Could you possibly link that discussion ?

All best regards,
Jim

[Tim Simmons]

This is the thread. You can see what i say about the scabbard looking like latin American mechete.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...2&page=2&pp=30

[Tim Simmons]

I do not know if I am correct but I felt right from the start that the original thread starter does not look like African work.

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks very much Tim! Now I remember that thread and it seems your instincts were right on that piece. I think this thread was quite instrumental in my thoughts concerning these Berber sabres, and my thinking toward the piece shown in the thread. Originally I thought perhaps it was some type of variant and tried to rationalize the checkerboard pattern into possible Moroccan association.
On that particular sabre I do now agree that it is most probably from the regions shown in von Zonnefeld, however the distinct 'Berber' sabre dilemma remains as to thier true origins.

All best regards,
Jim

[TVV]

Thank you all for your excellent replies. It seems that the origin of these sabres will be subject to a fascinating discussion until we are able to find a contemporary photo of a warrior wearing one. I can deffinitely see some justification in a Central American attribution - the blades, the motto on mine (most certainly not etched in the Maghreb), and the guardless hilts with horn scales not dissimilar to some Mexican swords and knives. While I will be quite happy with whatever it turns out to be, for the discussion's sake I am going to argue in favor of a Maghreb origin.
Searching the forum, I was able to find a shula, posted by ErnestoJuan, with hilt decoration quite similar to the decoration on the hilt of my example - note the little crosses. Here is also a close up of the hilt of a sword sold by Oriental Arms, and its inlay to me looks similar to the inlay found on the hilts of certain daggers from Mauritania. Although the Latin initials certainly complicate this theory.


Finally, I have attached a photo of a sword, Artzi had identified as originating from Spanish Morocco. Jim, is this what you were referring to as most likely coming from Cuba?

Regards,
Teodor

[Jim McDougall]

Excellent Teodor!!!
The bottom sword is exactly what I was referring to! Although I have seen examples of these provenanced distinctly from Mexico, in a discussion with a distinguished author on Spanish Colonial weapons, he informed me that years ago these were identified as having come from Cuba during Spanish-American War.
I think it is important to remember how much maritime activity there was between the Maghreb, Cuba and the ports in Eastern Mexico as well as in Florida. These were all in the vast Spanish colonial sphere, so it becomes difficult to confine particular weapons to specific geographic area, except in cases where the volume of examples found would support the assessment.

Your observation on the hilt decoration similarity is well placed, and it is an important factor to focus on when investigating a weapon in this category. Since the blade is clearly a trade blade, and scabbards cannot be trusted in proper identification as they were often replaced or refurbished, the hilt is the best element for identifying the probable provenance of an ethnographic weapon.

I am with you in that I still feel reluctant to give up the possible Maghreb associations with these interesting sabres, and really do hope that others will come in with further discussion and more information. It would be great to see more examples of these also.
I am always curious about the purpose of the unusual profiling of the tip of these blades into what is termed a 'barbed point'. While these may eventually fall into a machete type denomination if the Latin American attribution becomes the likely source of these weapons, what practical purpose would such a point serve in actual use?

All the best,
Jim

[Marc]

Just as a side-note, because I'm as lost as you regarding these sabers, being also divided between the North of Africa and Central America. I have my own favourite hypothesis, but I'm afraid we need indeed some kind of provenenced source to go beyond the speculative stage...
But regarding the swords coming from Cuba... well, just making you know that the consesus here in Spain is that they are indeed colonial exemplars, but from the Philippine. They're not official patterns as such, but were purchased and worn by the colonial troops there, specially officers, as some of them are quite ellaborated, with silver guards and engravings in the shell... which is, by the way, an element of the hilt that is not always present in this kind of machetes, as also happens with the knucklebow. I've seen at least one blade marked as having been made at the the Toledo factory in 1852, which is not strange, as the Factory manufactured a lot of blades aside from official patterns for the Spanish Army, and a good deal of their production, specially at that time, went overseas.
The decoration in the blade is quite typical, also. Curiously enough, some exemplars featured a straight blade with a "inverse clip" point. Let me illustrate: