European bladed takouba

[Iain]

I've cross posted this to the European Armoury board because of the marks. But I wanted to post it here as well and discuss the takouba aspects.

The sword has what I like to term a sandwich forte, where the blade has been pinned into two thick pieces of steel. This particular mount is very sturdy and thick. These fortes would fit well with how takouba were used, as even normal takouba blades are left unsharpened for about the first third of the blade. This blade is European with interesting marks and quite stiff. Heavy sharpening on the tip and most of the length of the blade. There are the remains of brass inlays in the marks.

The hilt is of an old style, large and heavy iron pommel and a guard made out of a similarly solid block. Brass plates are affixed to both sides of the guard. The grip was likely originally covered with leather.

I am not sure at the moment of an ethnic attribution, there are very few clues with this particular sword, I need to dig through a bunch of notes to see if the decorative pattern on the brass will reveal anything. A pity no scabbard came with the sword.

This is an interesting sword for me, not just because of the blade but because the hilt is solid and old. There is such a difference between these older takouba and newer ones in terms of how they handle and feel.