iron cuirass

[nKante]

I have always been interested in this West African cuirass. I have seen a few illustrations of them, and photos of 3 different pieces. Conrad Cairns briefly mentions this kind of defense in his book 'The African Knights'. Most of what I have seen is either padded garments, chain mail, or the combination of them both. My question is, were they worn on the outside of the padded garment or underneath. Outside would have provided cushion from the heavy iron against the skin. But I think the big iron plate would heat up rather quick in the African sun. I have looking through a lot of early photos of Sudanic warriors. I came across 2 that might show metal plates.

[Iain]

Sadly, a few years ago when one of these was on the market I did not purchase it. I have been kicking myself ever since.

These are associated with Bornu, Denham illustrated one as I recall.

I'd be interested to see the couple of photos you mentioned. It's an intriguing question. I'll have a look through my files and see if I can turn anything up.

[nKante]

Now remember I said 'might' be an iron plate. To my eye, the dark area around the one warrior's torso seems to be an armored belly band. It could be part of the pattern on the robe, but I think I see a shadow underneath. It could be wishful thinking, but the shape, shadow and edging make me think that it is a separate rigid object and not fabric like his partners.

[Iain]

Certainly possible, but as you say, hard to see in that particular image. At a guess, it's actually leather banded armour (kutufi). Although your image depicts Sudanese rather than Bornu or western Sahel troops I'm more familiar with.

My own personal opinion, and this only applies for the actual cuirass you posted, is that it was worn under the lifida, as was maille.

The lifida itself is not a single element. But can be made up of several garments. Usually these consist of at least the long out jacket (bantan lifidi) and a wide band around the waist (the kumakumi).

Underneath additional padding could be worn as well. The main purpose was defense against arrows, which were typically poisoned.

[nKante]

Ok! It would make sense to wear the cuirass over a padded under garment, and under a padded over garment. And after I looked again you are correct, they are Sudanese warriors. Know I have to reseach kutufi armor.

Thanks Ian

[Iain]

Ok! It would make sense to wear the cuirass over a padded under garment, and under a padded over garment. And after I looked again you are correct, they are Sudanese warriors. Know I have to reseach kutufi armor.

Thanks Ian

No problem, just a note though on the terminology, what I listed above is Hausa, in a Sudanese context it will be something else.

[Iain]

Just to add a little more photographic material here, I'm not necessarily right about maille under the lifida. It's not always easy to determine if maille wearers are also wearing full lifida.

But here's at least one case of maille over what looks like quite a lot of bulky cloth. Still, I don't see the full quilted garment here.

[colin henshaw]

Just to add a little more photographic material here, I'm not necessarily right about maille under the lifida. It's not always easy to determine if maille wearers are also wearing full lifida.

But here's at least one case of maille over what looks like quite a lot of bulky cloth. Still, I don't see the full quilted garment here.

Great image Iain. He won't run out of weapons in a hurry !

[Iain]

Great image Iain. He won't run out of weapons in a hurry !

Thanks Colin, he's a chief from Foumban in Cameroon. With the number of knives he's packing, makes you wonder if these were thrown?

[nKante]

Wow! That is an awesome pic. I would think that many daggers would be used as missiles. I wonder how his sleeves behave if they are for throwing!? By the way it gathers at his neck it looks like the chain shirt has a hood. Plus I think I see rings going up the side of his face. Thanx!

[Iain]

Wow! That is an awesome pic. I would think that many daggers would be used as missiles. I wonder how his sleeves behave if they are for throwing!? By the way it gathers at his neck it looks like the chain shirt has a hood. Plus I think I see rings going up the side of his face. Thanx!

Yes I would agree, that's a hood. I've attached an image showing a similar maille set.

[nKante]

His chain is definitely over some thick garment.

[Iain]

His chain is definitely over some thick garment.

Yes the maille is certainly over thick cloth, the question is, is it actually lifida? Hard to tell really.

[nKante]

This is my take on the piece. I still have to attach the shoulder straps and edge it with leather. I made it out of aluminum, not iron. I plan to put a nice dark patina on it when it is completed. I changed the design a little from the originals. I decided to leave both side open, so as not to compromise the aluminum by repeated opening and closing. I made it for an internet friend who practices traditional African martial arts at his studio in Texas. He is carving me two wooden swords from Benin.

[colin henshaw]

Here is an image of a postcard issued by the excellent Powell-Cotton Museum, Birchington, Kent that may interest...

[nKante]

Awesome. Thank you!

[nKante]

OK. Finally finished it. I took some liberties with it but I am very pleased with the overall product. I used street sign aluminum in place of iron plates. I replaced the iron rivets with brass screws peened over square nuts, which I think gives it visual weight. I made a set of rigid shoulder straps but they were very uncomfortable to move in. I tried a few things, including chains, but I settled on rawhide straps with attached plates. The worst part was sewing the edging on, which is made of strips I cut from a West African mud clothe I had. The pictures don't show but there are 2 set of 8 grommets on the top of the front plate. Since I was unable to physically measure the person that I made the armor for, I wanted some adjustability when attaching the shoulder straps. That is also the reason I decided to open both sides. I tucked a strip of the mud clothe into the bindings of the shoulder plate to give it some padding.

[Iain]

I'm glad to see this thread coming back to life.

The finished product, if not exactly like the originals, is an interesting take on a little known subject and a visually pleasing result.

I am adding here a couple more originals. One that was on auction some years ago, another from the MET.

In the next post I will add some interesting text from Robinson's "Oriental Armour".

[Iain]

The book excerpt. It deals in part with an earlier topic on this thread of mail over or under cloth components.

[LJ]

I came across this reference last year:
MacLeod, O., 1912 Chiefs and Cities of Central Africa. Across Lake Chad by way of British, French, and German territories. Pp 14 + 322. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood & sons.

A ‘Native-made iron cuirass” is illustrated on p.269, in a section describing the visit to the town of Fika (northern Nigeria) during March 1911. The armour is not described, only figured. Apparently, this piece of armour, together with a hide cuirass from Musgum collected during the same voyage, is in the Pitt Rivers museum.

[Iain]

I came across this reference last year:
MacLeod, O., 1912 Chiefs and Cities of Central Africa. Across Lake Chad by way of British, French, and German territories. Pp 14 + 322. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood & sons.

A ‘Native-made iron cuirass” is illustrated on p.269, in a section describing the visit to the town of Fika (northern Nigeria) during March 1911. The armour is not described, only figured. Apparently, this piece of armour, together with a hide cuirass from Musgum collected during the same voyage, is in the Pitt Rivers museum.

The image in the first post of this thread is the Pitt Rivers example. :)

I'm attaching some additional views of another museum example, can't recall off the top of my head which one! But it shows the full construction nicely.

[nKante]

WOW. Those art the best pictures I have ever seen of one. Some of those long, 'nail' looking rivets are just plain scary.

[Iain]

They are a serious piece of kit and quite effective I'd imagine combined with the quilted armour. Couple this with a lance and a hefty takouba and you've got a picture quite a bit different than what most people would expect to find south of the Sahara. :)

[nKante]

Figured I post myself wearing it with the rest of my panoply.

[KraVseR]

nKante, what a warrior you have reconstructed?

[estcrh]

Just to add a little more photographic material here, I'm not necessarily right about maille under the lifida. It's not always easy to determine if maille wearers are also wearing full lifida.

But here's at least one case of maille over what looks like quite a lot of bulky cloth. Still, I don't see the full quilted garment here.


This is the image description. "Bamum chief, in Cameroon, Portrait of a Bamum chief of Foumban", Postcard of the Société des missions évangéliques de Paris (Paris evangelical missionary society). 1910/1920

[nKante]

I found what I believe to be an illustrated photo showing a warrior wearing an iron cuirass under his robes. The saddle horn, helmet and circle designs of the horses armor remind me of the set up in Colin's picture.

A Fulbe warrior wearing a much embellished iron helmet (the plates visible just above his right ear) and iron chest armor (plates visible just beneath his right forearm) beneath his robe; the horse wears quilted armor. The object topping his helmet might have been intended to hold feathers.

[estcrh]

I'm attaching some additional views of another museum example, can't recall off the top of my head which one! But it shows the full construction nicely.

The images are from The British Museum.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=832018&objectid=621141

[Iain]

I just realized I have an incredibly clear image of one of these cuirass being worn from 1905 I never posted. It is from northern Cameroon.

[nKante]

NICE. I love the high collar on the quilted robe. This might be my new profile picture.

[estcrh]

There is one of these cuirasses for sale at auction currently, since there is some sort of silly rule about posting pictures of items that are for sale on the forum, if anyone wants information on it send me a message.

[Iain]

I should also mention the image illustrates a cavalryman of the Moundang people. One of the groups within the Mandara region of north Cameroon.

[Iain]

Well after quite a few years I am finally in possession of one of these. I need to do a proper photo session in the coming weeks and it needs a little clean on the inside of the cuirass but I thought some might enjoy a quick picture of it enjoying its new home with an old takouba.

[colin henshaw]

Well after quite a few years I am finally in possession of one of these. I need to do a proper photo session in the coming weeks and it needs a little clean on the inside of the cuirass but I thought some might enjoy a quick picture of it enjoying its new home with an old takouba.

A good piece Iain, well done. In fact it would look nice with my chainmail hauberk ;)

Looking forward to more pics...

[Iain]

A good piece Iain, well done. In fact it would look nice with my chainmail hauberk ;)

Looking forward to more pics...

Thanks Colin, a maille hauberk is another thing on my long term list. Not easy to find one of the good old riveted ones!

I'll hopefully have time and good enough light this weekend for an extended photo session.

Hard to date these things precisely but this example shows quite a lot of age to the iron, surprisingly large as well.

[estcrh]

Well after quite a few years I am finally in possession of one of these. I need to do a proper photo session in the coming weeks and it needs a little clean on the inside of the cuirass but I thought some might enjoy a quick picture of it enjoying its new home with an old takouba.Iain, I am glad to see that I am not the only one here who invests in obscure armors!!

[TVV]

Very nice Iain, congratulations. When it comes to mail hauberks, my understanding is that they were imported to the Sahel from the Middle Eats and Europe, and it may be tricky to find a North African one unless there is some very solid provenance.

Teodor

[Iain]

Iain, I am glad to see that I am not the only one here who invests in obscure armors!!

Thanks Eric, this is my first venture into the armour side of things, I guess for many armour doesn't evoke the same reaction as a sword.

[Iain]

Very nice Iain, congratulations. When it comes to mail hauberks, my understanding is that they were imported to the Sahel from the Middle Eats and Europe, and it may be tricky to find a North African one unless there is some very solid provenance.

Teodor

Hi Teodor,

most maille in the Sahel was sourced from Egypt, other Ottoman territories, Persia or of course to some degree Europe. Bivar's Nigerian Panoply illustrates this variety nicely. So you are of course correct, by and large maille wasn't made locally and what was, at least in the case of Sudan they were making butted and not riveted maille as I recall.

Managed to take some more images, still not the best I'm afraid but the weather is playing up and not being conducive to photo sessions!

[estcrh]

Hi Teodor,

most maille in the Sahel was sourced from Egypt, other Ottoman territories, Persia or of course to some degree Europe. Bivar's Nigerian Panoply illustrates this variety nicely. So you are of course correct, by and large maille wasn't made locally and what was, at least in the case of Sudan they were making butted and not riveted maille as I recall.

Managed to take some more images, still not the best I'm afraid but the weather is playing up and not being conducive to photo sessions!
Thats correct from what I have read and seen. Sudanese mail was butted, Khedival Egypt imported split ring mail from England in the mid to late 1800s. I believe all riveted mail would have been imported.

Good photos anyway.

[Iain]

Thats correct from what I have read and seen. Sudanese mail was butted, Khedival Egypt imported split ring mail from England in the mid to late 1800s. I believe all riveted mail would have been imported.

Good photos anyway.

Thanks, I'll do some detailed images of the riveting and materials when I get a chance.

I had thought there was a sketch in a period account showing one of these. However having looked in Barth, Denham and Nachtigal I'm drawing a blank.

[TVV]

Iain,

I believe the image you are looking for was originally made by Denham, but you can find it also in Spring or in Cairns' little book "The African Knights".

Teodor

[Iain]

Iain,

I believe the image you are looking for was originally made by Denham, but you can find it also in Spring or in Cairns' little book "The African Knights".

Teodor

Hi Teodor,

Yep you are right, not sure why its not in Denham's two volumes of his travels but at least I found a copy. It provides a nice benchmark for us to assume these cuirasses were used at least in the 18th century as well if not further back.

[colin henshaw]

From "History of Mankind" by F. Ratzel 1898.

[Iain]

From "History of Mankind" by F. Ratzel 1898.

Thanks! Its a very similar sketch to the Denham one. The high neck protector I think was leather, I haven't seen an extant example with one, however mine clearly has holes where it could be attached.

[estcrh]

A bit larger image, no text though.

[Iain]

Its based from the Denham sketch, including all the objects pictured. Friend was kind enough to send me a quick pic. Looks like the later book simply copied and changed up the pose a bit.

[estcrh]

From George Stone.

[TVV]

I just saw this one as I was browsing Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika. Not much info given, other than the Fulbe attribution. According to the description, the edge is trimmed in leather and there is cloth padding on the inside. It was collected by Steinkopf prior to 1914.

[Iain]

I just saw this one as I was browsing Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika. Not much info given, other than the Fulbe attribution. According to the description, the edge is trimmed in leather and there is cloth padding on the inside. It was collected by Steinkopf prior to 1914.

Thanks Teodor, there are another two at least in Germany the Bremen museum (this might be one of them?).

Photo is courtesy of Wolf.

I am not sure where the one from Stone has ended up.

With mine, the next step is going to be a deep cleaning, some exploratory work has revealed that there is in fact extensive dark rust with red rust hiding underneath. So its going to get a good going over with metal -de-corroder and then a polish.

[Iain]

Just a small update, my cuirass has had a bit of a better clean and wax. Quite pleased with the result!

[Kubur]

Beautifull!
it's amazing to see how the Roman armour lorica segmenta survived in sub saharan Africa probably through transsaharan roads..

[Iain]

Beautifull!
it's amazing to see how the Roman armour lorica segmenta survived in sub saharan Africa probably through transsaharan roads..

The construction is quite different. There's no evidence I'm aware of there's a relation.

[Kubur]

The construction is quite different. There's no evidence I'm aware of there's a relation.

mmmm do you expect an exact replica done by Africans South of the Sahara, more than 1000 years after the end of the Roman Empire?

It's well accepted that tabouka and kaskara are African weapons inspired by Medieval swords... But we don't have any proof...

It's the same with the cuirass, it'll be very difficult to prove that they are not or they are inspired by Roman armour...

:shrug:

[Iain]

mmmm do you expect an exact replica done by Africans South of the Sahara, more than 1000 years after the end of the Roman Empire?

It's well accepted that tabouka and kaskara are African weapons inspired by Medieval swords... But we don't have any proof...

It's the same with the cuirass, it'll be very difficult to prove that they are not or they are inspired by Roman armour...

:shrug:

The difference is we can make a case for the "when" and the "how" for the kaskara and the takouba taking influence from Mamluk and outside sources includes details of trade routes, political and trade contact between states, physical trips by African monarchs through Egypt etc. The same for lifida armour, the horses used by the local cavalries etc.

The problem I have with making any connection to Roman armour is that the Kanuri and Kanembu peoples who made up the Bornu empire were geographically and in terms of a timeline far removed from any Roman presence in North Africa. Otherwise any assumed Roman influence is merely a case of seeing a rough visual similarity, an argument no stronger than the Victorian assumption the kaskara was derived from the swords of Crusaders or that certain forms of daggers and swords seen in Cameroon are derived from the Celts...

[Kubur]

The difference is we can make a case for the "when" and the "how" for the kaskara and the takouba taking influence from Mamluk and outside sources includes details of trade routes, political and trade contact between states, physical trips by African monarchs through Egypt etc. The same for lifida armour, the horses used by the local cavalries etc.

The problem I have with making any connection to Roman armour is that the Kanuri and Kanembu peoples who made up the Bornu empire were geographically and in terms of a timeline far removed from any Roman presence in North Africa. Otherwise any assumed Roman influence is merely a case of seeing a rough visual similarity, an argument no stronger than the Victorian assumption the kaskara was derived from the swords of Crusaders or that certain forms of daggers and swords seen in Cameroon are derived from the Celts...
The Celts and the Vikings....never
:)
The Romans, it's another story...
;)

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

APOLOGIES AS IM STUCK ON CAPITALS HERE... PLEASE SEE https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_expeditions_to_Lake_Chad_and_western_Africa WHERE A DESCRIPTION OF ROMAN ACTIVITY ACROSS THE ABOVE MAP IS CONSIDERED. THE ROMANS WERE VERY ACTIVE IN THE 1ST T0 4THC. AD … NOT TO MENTION THEIR ACTIVITY IN YEMEN WHERE THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE FRANKINCENCE TRAIL AT THE SAME TIME.
:shrug:

[Iain]

The Celts and the Vikings....never
:)
The Romans, it's another story...
;)

Hi Kubur, I'm aware of these expeditions and they of course do offer fascinating possibilities. However, I still find the difference in construction and form of the cuirass to be quite different from a 1st century AD Roman armour, particularly in terms of how it fastens at the side, the riveting etc. Obviously if there was a connection one could expect changes over time, but I am a natural skeptic. :)

But who knows, perhaps archaeological work in the region will turn something up one of these days. Given the relationship with Ethiopians and even the presence of Ethiopians in Roman ranks, it would be interesting to see anything similar in those regions.

In any case its fun to speculate but I'm unaware of any archaeological evidence yet found for a Roman presence in the Lake Chad area. So, an intriguing possibility but given the general panoply of Bornu arms shows direct Mamluk influence it would be an odd holdover.

[Edster]

Iain,

Nice job on "resurrecting" your cuirass. Well done. Yours looks more native made that some of the other examples. The others appear of very similar design and to be made from thin rolled steel plates of uniform thickness and width. Also the rivets are mostly uniform. This suggests that they were made in a workshop using imported materials of the late 19th century.

How heavy is the item? The entire outfit of various dublets, chain mail, padded armour, plus the cuirass must have been very heavy. Robinson (1929) says that the Fung mounted bodyguards of the 1760s, as well as Darfurian cavalry, trained their war horses to kneel like a camel to allow the warriors to get aboard in full armour. He didn't mention that a cuirass was part of the outfit although he mentioned they were "clad in metal armour".

Also, I read somewhere that the pagan tribes of Darfur threw throwing-irons like on one of the posted images to try and unhorse the knights as they were virturally helpless once on the ground.

Best regards,
Ed

[Iain]

Iain,

Nice job on "resurrecting" your cuirass. Well done. Yours looks more native made that some of the other examples. The others appear of very similar design and to be made from thin rolled steel plates of uniform thickness and width. Also the rivets are mostly uniform. This suggests that they were made in a workshop using imported materials of the late 19th century.

How heavy is the item? The entire outfit of various dublets, chain mail, padded armour, plus the cuirass must have been very heavy. Robinson (1929) says that the Fung mounted bodyguards of the 1760s, as well as Darfurian cavalry, trained their war horses to kneel like a camel to allow the warriors to get aboard in full armour. He didn't mention that a cuirass was part of the outfit although he mentioned they were "clad in metal armour".

Also, I read somewhere that the pagan tribes of Darfur threw throwing-irons like on one of the posted images to try and unhorse the knights as they were virturally helpless once on the ground.

Best regards,
Ed

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the kind words, it does appear to have a good deal of age, hammer marks, and has been through a lot.

Weight, I haven't had a chance to get it on a scale, I'd say a few kilos. Not particularly heavy. I think the quilted lifida contribute a bulk of the weight.