Very odd Sudanese sword for discussion

Timo Nieminen · 8th October 2012, 10:41 PM

My first thought was that it appears to be built from a sword like this one.

(There are some swords like this made in India that are much cheaper than the Del Tin one above.)

Norman McCormick · 8th October 2012, 10:53 PM

Hi,
According to the Christie's catalogue, as I understand it, this item was part of a collection of Arms and Armour that belonged to Heinrich Schliemann. This sword was the last item of weaponry under that title i.e. 'Arms and Armour from the Collection of Heinrich Schliemann, the Discoverer of Troy'. Other items assigned to this collection were also in the same sale.
Regards,
Norman.

P.S. From Archeologist to Time Traveller.

Gustav · 8th October 2012, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen

My first thought was that it appears to be built from a sword like this one.

(There are some swords like this made in India that are much cheaper than the Del Tin one above.)

A very good point.

David R · 8th October 2012, 11:13 PM

Ouch! This does not look good....

A Senefelder · 8th October 2012, 11:20 PM

That certainly looks like the Del Tin hilt dressed up with a few little extra knobs. The decorative motif is identicle.

Lew · 9th October 2012, 03:34 AM

I would say this is a composite sword. The scabbard has thin rings which indicates it was made post 1950 or so. The older scabbards had wide flattened rings. Looks like someone copied a Viking hilt and added some extra tidbits

.

Mefidk · 9th October 2012, 06:21 AM

Wow - a good example of why its worth keeping tabs on all the modern sword catalogues!

I suppose this is at least a new variant on kaskara blades in medieval hilts

Iain · 9th October 2012, 07:37 AM

Thanks guys for all the comments and detective work. Certainly looks like Timo is spot on with the Del Tin hilt.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to post this here - something just felt off about it. I always get nervous when a one of a kind sword shows up that's supposedly genuine in a culture that stuck to a particular pattern pretty rigidly. I'd actually done a little photoshoped image without the knobs on this hilt to illustrate just how close, well now it appears identical, this was to a viking hilt. Obviously no need to post that now.

I guess this just goes to show the interest generated by thinking something is rare and unusual leads to some cloudy judgement and someone spending a lot of money for nothing - I am quite curious now where this ended up. The sad thing out of all this I think is that because Christie's sold it, it will probably knock around in the collecting world for quite a while longer as a genuine article.

8th October 2012, 10:53 PM	#2
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,618	Hi, According to the Christie's catalogue, as I understand it, this item was part of a collection of Arms and Armour that belonged to Heinrich Schliemann. This sword was the last item of weaponry under that title i.e. 'Arms and Armour from the Collection of Heinrich Schliemann, the Discoverer of Troy'. Other items assigned to this collection were also in the same sale. Regards, Norman. P.S. From Archeologist to Time Traveller. Attached Images Last edited by Norman McCormick; 8th October 2012 at 11:21 PM.

8th October 2012, 10:41 PM	#1
Timo Nieminen Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 422	My first thought was that it appears to be built from a sword like this one. (There are some swords like this made in India that are much cheaper than the Del Tin one above.)

8th October 2012, 11:13 PM	#4
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,120	Ouch! This does not look good....

8th October 2012, 11:20 PM	#5
A Senefelder Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 214	That certainly looks like the Del Tin hilt dressed up with a few little extra knobs. The decorative motif is identicle.

9th October 2012, 03:34 AM	#6
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	I would say this is a composite sword. The scabbard has thin rings which indicates it was made post 1950 or so. The older scabbards had wide flattened rings. Looks like someone copied a Viking hilt and added some extra tidbits .

9th October 2012, 06:21 AM	#7
Mefidk Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Denmark Posts: 157	Wow - a good example of why its worth keeping tabs on all the modern sword catalogues! I suppose this is at least a new variant on kaskara blades in medieval hilts

9th October 2012, 07:37 AM	#8
Iain Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Olomouc Posts: 1,717	Thanks guys for all the comments and detective work. Certainly looks like Timo is spot on with the Del Tin hilt. This is one of the reasons I wanted to post this here - something just felt off about it. I always get nervous when a one of a kind sword shows up that's supposedly genuine in a culture that stuck to a particular pattern pretty rigidly. I'd actually done a little photoshoped image without the knobs on this hilt to illustrate just how close, well now it appears identical, this was to a viking hilt. Obviously no need to post that now. I guess this just goes to show the interest generated by thinking something is rare and unusual leads to some cloudy judgement and someone spending a lot of money for nothing - I am quite curious now where this ended up. The sad thing out of all this I think is that because Christie's sold it, it will probably knock around in the collecting world for quite a while longer as a genuine article.