Tunisian or Libyan berber sword with scabbard

[TVV]

Congratulations on your acquisition. This is as nice as these sabers get, considering that yours also has the baldric preserved, which I have not seen before.

You might be on to something when it comes to comparing the pommel on these Tunisian swords and jinetas. I have one of these swords as well and the hilt is also wobbly, so it appears that this is a common feature of the hilt construction.

I love how these swords are a combination of imported European blades and very rustic North African fittings. The cloth in the scabbard seem looks like a local interpretation of Ottoman spiral stitching.

There is almost nothing known about these swords. They seem to have been confined to a small region in Tunisia and Tripoli and there is almost no literature on them, except Tirri, who lumps them with takoubas and a catalogue of Islamic arms in the Royal Armories which shows one with a straight, one sided blade. They are not common compared to other North African swords such as nimchas and flyssas, so getting to se more of them is always appreciated - thank you for sharing.