African cuirass?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

Can we take for certain that the 'nobility' of the outer part, croc hide and elaborated rosettes, has nothing to do with the inner iron lining? I have a problem in digesting that the original owner of this hide cuirass was the one who had the inside addition made. The time span between the two parts appears to be significant. Or could it be that someone else, in the greatest of fantasies, had the iron part made in order to prop up the historic hide and keep the cuirass upright and 'alive' ?.
Panoleon, how come that you can't be sure that the rivets are leather ? Can you take a closer look ?

Exactly. I had meant to suggest that by saying 'the traditional old armor ' implying that the animal hide as used in older armor, may have been modified to protect the wearer against the modern threat of firearms. Here I noted that the use of iron sheeting (as used by Ned Kelly in Australia) was known by the end of the 19th c. and that members of these cults (I called societies) may have 'upgraded' their traditional armor to 'bulletproof'?

In ethnographic cultural context, traditional old items are often refurbished n order for use as heirlooms in the traditional convention.
Yes, in native sense arms and armor are in a sense 'alive', however in the addition of material to continue the 'life' of the armor, why not use leather liner instead of this heavy, hot, and extremely uncomfortable shield...unless it was infeed meant to deflect bullets.

Blades on swords are known to exist in native spheres for not only generations, but centuries. One of the oldest blades I recall us finding in the Sahara was medieval, around 15th c. and had apparently been in circulation for probably several hundred years. These blades are traditionally rehilted as they pass down through either family or trade.

Kubur, it is indeed an unusual item, and your idea of a prop of some kind is of course possible. Here I would note that another item I was involved in researching was a leather armor of cataphract (scaled) form was found in Texas desert near El Paso in the 1890s by an army trooper. It was heralded as evidence of Spanish exploration in the area from 16th c. The item was known as a 'mantle' and worn over shoulders.
Subsequent research revealed that the item had possibly been a costume element with a theater troupe or ceremonial item perhaps from fraternal group regalia. While the item was of significant age, it was certainly not 16th c. and likely repurposed in later use as suggested.