Seme

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by G. Mansfield

Interested party, I think that your seme is a legitimate sword, meaning not for tourist, but not entirely old either, circa 1950. Marc, I think yours has some greater age to it as it is more in the older style with the leather spiral handle and a nicely mid-ribbed blade. With the 1909 coin attached, the coin may have been earlier, but I would not be surprised if it is from that time period. It’s hard to tell. They did not change too much from the late 19th century to 1930s. The British Museum has a good number of examples in their collection to compare. The newer ones post 1930s, have very flimsy flat blades and are poorly constructed.

The older examples I have seen have both wide bladed and slender versions. I have two slender style blades. They are both very heavy iron, unsharpened until around half the blades length. Dating 1895 to about 1925. Photos attached with a Massai shield in the background. Detailed links followed.

https://www.the-mansfield-collection.com/seme-385
https://www.the-mansfield-collection.com/seme-407

-Geoffrey

Hi Geoffrey
Thanks for the additional info. Nice old seme's and the massai shield is always a cool thing. An old seme and a spear with a wide long blade are still on my wish list.
I recently bought this massai shield, the seme with the flat blade, and some spears was brought back from Kenya by a friend of mine in the 70's on a landrover tour.
Regards
Marc