Interesting kaskara with brass hilt and rounded tip

[Iain]

This recently sold at auction in the UK, did a forumite get it by any chance? It fetched quite the price. Scabbard is silver according to the auction description.

Has this style been identified with a particular area or time period? It is certainly quite different from the usual styles of either the Beja swords or the Darfur examples. In fact in some ways it is closer to a takouba with a bulbous pommel and rounded tip...

I'm aware of a similar piece in the American Museum of Natural History collections, but don't recall off hand any other examples like this (although I am sure there are).

Anyone have insights into this?

[stephen wood]

...how much did it go for Iain? (am I allowed to ask? )

[Iain]

Just in case my initial post wasn't clear, I didn't win it (or even bid!), but the sale price inclusive of premium was £2,160. More than a little out of my league. I'm not even sure if the price wasn't more for the throwing knives... I gather they are quite rare.

Any thoughts on on regional or ethnic classification for the sword? I find it quite different visually to the examples usually encountered, particularly the blade geometry.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by stephen wood

...how much did it go for Iain? (am I allowed to ask? )

Is that it? how much???? What about thoughts on period (Mahdiyya) or more on regional possibilities

[stephen wood]

Sorry Jim

Here's the provenance:

"...joining the Sudan Political Service in 1907. In 1912 he married Lilian Constance Bagot daughter of The Rev. G.P. Dew and in 1917 became a barrister at Gray s Inn. Between 1918 and 1923 he served in Baghdad first as President of the Court of First Instance and then as President of the Court of Appeal. In 1923 he returned to the Sudan as Judge of the High Court - having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in that year - and became Chief Justice of the Sudan in 1926; he received the insignia of the second class of the Order of the Nile from the King of Egypt in 1929. Between 1930 and 1936 he served as Legal Secretary to the Government of the Sudan after which he retired being created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1937."

Note the cast, yellow metal guard - often seen on the swords with thuluth blades and mushroom pommels.

[Atlantia]

What a magnificent sword. Do you have any other pictures of it Iain? It would be nice to see close ups of the decoration on the hilt and scabbard.
The quality looks excellent at this distance.

[Edster]

Very nice sword. My guess it was made in Egypt as a presentation piece. Makers used Mamluk style grip and cross guard to simulate a Sudanese kaskara. Virtually no design elements suggest to me a Sudanese origin.

Regards,
Ed

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by stephen wood

Sorry Jim

Here's the provenance:

"...joining the Sudan Political Service in 1907. In 1912 he married Lilian Constance Bagot daughter of The Rev. G.P. Dew and in 1917 became a barrister at Gray s Inn. Between 1918 and 1923 he served in Baghdad first as President of the Court of First Instance and then as President of the Court of Appeal. In 1923 he returned to the Sudan as Judge of the High Court - having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in that year - and became Chief Justice of the Sudan in 1926; he received the insignia of the second class of the Order of the Nile from the King of Egypt in 1929. Between 1930 and 1936 he served as Legal Secretary to the Government of the Sudan after which he retired being created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1937."

Note the cast, yellow metal guard - often seen on the swords with thuluth blades and mushroom pommels.

Thanks Stephen!!! Thats more better!!!! I think these presentation type pieces took on quite more elaborate character during the British occupation of both Egypt and Sudan post Omdurman and as noted by provenance much later.

All the best,
Jim