Takouba with a 16th century blade?

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Marc M.

Markings on takoubas have been discussed at length on the forum, especially the dukari. We have no indication of how many lemmets were imported from Europe to North Africa in recent centuries, but may assume tens of thousands. We also know that not every blade entering North Africa had a mark. That they were in by traders often provided locally with an imitation mark is known.
It becomes difficult when those dealers possess stamps made in Europe. What I wonder is if a European dealer to get more of his blades applied markings himself.
Seems to me a gray area to place marks of a high quality. The often locally applied markings are usually clearly identifiable.
Regards
Marc

Short answer is yes, I have long suspected this based on trade records and the volume of blades being exported. I've written about this before and we have period records to backup how big the trade was.