Nice Kaskara on eBay

[Lew]

Just won this nice older Kaskara. The blade seems to be of nice quality.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_1160wt_922

I will post some better pics once it arrives.

Lew

[Stan S.]

Pretty cool, Lew. I saw the listing whiel it was active but kaskaras are not quite my thing. I think the seller had another one listed as well. Did you try bidding on it too?

Lets see some pictures when you get it!

[Iain]

A very good deal. Guard also looks old. I refrained from bidding because I would have had to ship to relatives state side then over to Europe. Also assumed it would go higher, a lot higher... glad it went to a forumite and congrats again.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by Stan S.

Pretty cool, Lew. I saw the listing whiel it was active but kaskaras are not quite my thing. I think the seller had another one listed as well. Did you try bidding on it too?

Lets see some pictures when you get it!

Stan

The other Kaskara seemed to have had a European trade blade on it but the hilt seemed more recent with a black leather overlay.

[Rick]

I will be interested to see if the blade bears this mark, Lew .

Leather Therapy for the scabbard ...

[Mefidk]

Rick, the guy had four for sale, one of which looked to have a mark similar to the one you are interested in.

Like Iain I would have loved to pick up some of these, but Danish customs are really no fun, so my route to Europe would be even more circuitous than Iain's So less competition for you stateside folks

[Lew]

Here are some pics of the one I won. Below that is the other kaskara with similar markings to Ricks piece.

[Rick]

I'm really starting to think that this is a native mark .

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Rick

I'm really starting to think that this is a native mark .

I've never heard of it turning up in one of the mark compendiums from Germany which I think are pretty comprehensive for the 19th century. So I'd say probably native. However doesn't necessarily mean the blades that it's found on aren't trade blades.

[CharlesS]

Nice piece, Lew...and quite a bargain.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Nice piece, Lew...and quite a bargain.

Thanks Charles. I was surprised that no one else bid on it. Will need to clean off the surface rust when it arrives. The blade does have a nice look to it though.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Rick

I'm really starting to think that this is a native mark .

Indeed it is Rick, and you and I have been kicking this one around quite a few years! It seems that in more recent research and finally in discussions with Ed Hunley, who noted seeing these kinds of markings in the Suq al Haddad in Kassala in 1984, it is my opinion these are stylized interpretations of the old Samuel Kull mark. This was an ideograph of a fly which was apparantly recorded for this member of the Kull family blade retailers in Solingen from around 1847 until about 1860.

Much like many of the European markings which had circulated through the trade networks and native armourers centers through the 19th century and before, these markings were interpreted in use by these artisans. While the European purpose was of course mostly guild accordance and ostensibly quality assurance, the natives perceived these marks quite differently and applied them in terms of thier own meanings.

In this case, the marking had been loosely stylized from the original which had appeared more faithfully in takoubas earlier (see Raidera sword, Briggs, 1965, plate XX) and as the fly (termed duran in local dialect, Sudan). In native perception this was, as with many of these marks, magic, in this case to empower the warrior to 'jump as the fly' in combat.

It would seem that by the time of the Hadendoa swordmaking industry in Kassala, this stylized form, along with numbers of others, the crecent moons etc. had become quite stylized, though I believe in this form it was probably used for generations. These blades seen here with Lews and the one with the 'duran' probably had been around quite a few years, though of course they are refurbished with new mounts virtually with each change of hands in many cases.

All the best,
Jim

[Rick]

I think what I've got here is a native blade, Jim; a very nice native blade; irregularities in the forging are apparent, no forte to the blade .

Very lively steel.
I expect Lew's sword will share the same characteristics .

[Jim McDougall]

Good call Rick, and Im inclined to agree. It is interesting though, in recent discussions it seems there is some suggestion that the absence of forte does not necessarily eliminate European production. It seems there are examples of swords from some producers without the usual forte block, though no examples spring immediately to mind. Beyond that, there seems to be also the possibility that some blades made in Solingen for export were made specifically for these North African markets and some of them were indeed without the forte.

The Solingen blade producing machine seems to have few bounds in the range of production styles tailored to certain clientele, as has been seen in the rapier blades produced far into the 18th century for the anachronistically favored cuphilts for Spain, long after the advent of the smallsword.

[Edster]

Lew,

I really like to read the posts on this forum. I will always remain a student to the Masters of the Forum!!!

I was looking through my old 1984 field notes from Kassala (just a short blink in time) and found an entry. A blade smith by the name of Fatih Hallah made blades with a wide canal (khar) as on your blade, and uses a maker's mark like the Ethiopian ones. Didn't record his mark. Rats, hindsight and all of that. He said that Ethiopian blades were blank, had no lines on them.

One informant said that the Durod (fly) sucks blood from camels and horses and a sword so marked sucks blood. Said the sword was likely made in Massawa. (Up the Red Sea coast in maybe in Eritrea). A similar design, one maker's mark looks like a cow's head. That mark was used b a man named Samnani (died about 1979) He made the sword in the time of Asari, the first president of Sudan (Early 1950s).

A couple of other points that may be of interest.

Cross guards are called ("Tomot" in Hadendawa language and Bersham in Arabic). Those with a diamond end face are called "Mutahman".
Kind of a screwdrived end originated in Sennar from the Fung times and are called "Sennariya".
The hexagon are called "Samanniya" after the Tariqa (Sufi order).I seem to recall that the Samanniya were a powerful order during Mahdi times, and I think they rivaled the Mahdi. Jim is a much better historian than me and may be able to clarify. All three types were made in Kassala at the time I was there.

My informant said that the cross guards that flair at the end are very old, high quality. Local smiths of the day try to duplicate the style, but cannot.

An uncommon blade is the Suliman Mukhumus has five canals. The canals act as a spring and the sword can be bent severely and not break.

On earlier posts we have speculated on the origin of the diamond designs on silver coverings on the grip. Another informant said it was from the village of Wager on the Gash River (north of Kassala). He didn't give a date.

Regards,
Ed

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much for the kind words Ed, and I have been hoping you would come in this. Your field research on these swords in Kasalla, and your paper are in a word, superb, and has given us so much insight into the actual development of these kaskara in more modern times. What has been so amazing to me is that for many years, the work by Reed (1987) stood as the single reference specifically to the kaskara, and here came this fantastic work of yours actually predating that.

In my comments to Rick I was drawing on notes from one of our conversations which was where I got the term for fly, the marking from Kull we have discussed earlier.

Thanks again Ed for joining in, and for all the valuable material you have shared with us here.

All the very best,
Jim

[Lew]

The Kaskara arrived today and after about an hours worth of sanding I managed to remove most of the active surface rust. First it's a big blade close to 38 inches long. The blade is a little springy and very quick and lively. The edge is still quite sharp and all is nice and tight. The only thing that is wrong is the scabbard must have shrunk does not go all the way up to the hilt. About 3.5 inches short. So I took an old replica sword and put it as far as it can go to try and stretch the scabbard. Hopefully this will work once I apply some mink oil .

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Lew

The Kaskara arrived today and after about an hours worth of sanding I managed to remove most of the active surface rust. First it's a big blade close to 38 inches long. The blade is a little springy and very quick and lively. The edge is still quite sharp and all is nice and tight. The only thing that is wrong is the scabbard must have shrunk does not go all the way up to the hilt. About 3.5 inches short. So I took an old replica sword and put it as far as it can go to try and stretch the scabbard. Hopefully this will work once I apply some mink oil .

Lew, I am sure there are many ways of stretching the scabbard and yours works aok.
One that has worked for me with Kaskara has been clove oil the blade and offer repeated firm applications in and out of the scabbard and a firm hand 2/3rd the way down the sheath holding it tight.
The fine oils disappear pretty quickly doing this so repeated applications of oil are needed but cm x cm this does work...when your arms are tired do one last oil and a firm deep sheathing and let it sit over night...a lot of hard work but it will come good...great excercise for your sword arm too

[Iain]

Post some new pictures when you get a chance Lew. Interested to see how it looks after a clean.

[Lew]

Well I mink oiled the scabbard last night and have made some progress the sword now goes in with only an inch or so to go but it is still quite tight and will need a few more days to work in.

[Lew]

An uncommon blade is the Suliman Mukhumus has five canals. The canals act as a spring and the sword can be bent severely and not break.

Regards,
Ed[/QUOTE]


Ed I found a pic Suliman Mukhumus five canal blade.

[Edster]

Lew,

Fantastically cool. That sword with the sunburst mark is a Suliman Shammish (sun). I have its almost identical mate with just the top part shown on p.6 of my Kassala sword paper. Mine was reportedly made in Kassala "more than 70 years ago (in 1984) That would put it in c. 1915-16. My notes say "maker saw man making like them when he was small." That would suggest that the style is much older.


From field notes. The Shaykh of the Blacksmiths, Musa Malit said that "in 1918 no one makes swords. Swords came from Europe, Ethiopia, made by companies. People in the country only carried spears and knives. People bought swords from soldiers from Mussawa, Eqypt and Turks. They traded spears for swords after the Mahdiya. ...Those without swords made a replica from wood. Those with swords were out front and those without in the back. This made the British think everyone had swords, Sword-less soldiers would pick up ones from their fallen comrads and pursue the battle." End field notes.

Its really a thrill to see these two swords likely made by the same smith. Based on the above, they could be among the oldest Kassala made examples I know of. But then of course, this is only one informant, but he "carried the culture" of the Kassala Swordsmiths. What's the provenance off the sword in your photo? Great find.

Best regards,
Ed

[Lew]

Originally Posted by Iain

Post some new pictures when you get a chance Lew. Interested to see how it looks after a clean.

Don't know how good these are but I took the with my cell phone.