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10th October 2023, 09:20 PM | #1 | |
Arms Historian
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Quote:
Offhand I can recall some works by Carleton Coons (if memory serves) on Berber tribes of the Rif; and Nicolsen wrote extensively on the Tuaregs in which there were actually general notes on weapons. While the Zeneta tribes removed to the Maghrabi areas during the 16th c. it seems of course that there would be residual contact with Tunisia etc. The cross diffusion with Saharan trade routes that existed from Tunisian areas from these early times into the 19th century of course confounds any sort of finite classification. It does seem as noted, the general consensus seems to hold to the Tunisian assessment. The French blades moved broadly across the Sahara, and seem to occur often in the distinct sabers of the Manding in Mali as well as in many 'aljinaur' (=curved) tuareg style hilt takoubas. I'll have to look further, consider my curiosity totally piqued! |
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10th October 2023, 09:35 PM | #2 | |
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It might also be worth noting a response from the seller, when I asked him about the scabbard and the origin of the sword:
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But I mention it mainly because I find his comment on the scabbard work resembling Algerian work interesting but I have no familiarity with kodmi knives, and I can't really find a lot of images of the scabbards that I can connect to what he's talking about, so I can't confirm (although it sounds plausible enough on the face of it given that they are all neighboring countries and Tunisia is relatively narrow). Does anyone have an example of picture of a scabbard on a kodmi knife that demonstrates what he's talking about? The closest thing I could find is the one attached. |
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11th October 2023, 08:20 AM | #3 |
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As you indicate scabbard photos are rare, here is My Khodmi, to show its scabbard - someone added a sewing thimble as a chape.
The spine making on the french blade does seem to start with the "K" of Klingenthal. The beginning "Klin" is a bit worn. I've added another more legible version from another sabre. Last edited by kronckew; 11th October 2023 at 08:52 AM. |
11th October 2023, 12:34 PM | #4 |
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Ah, right, I don't know why I thought that was spelled with a C.
Thanks for the kodmi scabbard pic. Still not entirely sure what the seller was referring to tbh. To me they look quite different but maybe I'm missing some context or overlooking some details of construction. |
11th October 2023, 01:35 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
I'm not sure what the Bou Saadi khodmi ref was either Hopefully someone can shed some light on it. None of the khodmi knife scabbards we've seen in this thread remind me of the sabre scabbard in the earlier post. Probably we shouldn't let it sidetrack us further without more info to relate them. I like that sabre and scabbard, it has a primitive bedouin look to it. I wonder if the colourful cloth/string knotwork on the scabbard is camel hair. |
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24th October 2023, 08:23 PM | #6 |
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This sword was auctioned off today, so I suppose I can add it here now.
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24th October 2023, 08:24 PM | #7 |
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And might as well add the remaining two pics.
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24th October 2023, 08:29 PM | #8 |
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Thank you for sharing werecow. The silver casing is certainly nice, but I am more intrigued by the blade - looks well worn and potentially quite old.
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