Hybrid dagger or specific tribe ?

[Martin Lubojacky]

Big, old dagger.
Tebbu style handle, upper part of which + pommel evokes tribes from Mandara Mts region (Kirdi, Matakam, Chamba etc.), blade engravings not Tebbu, but more like south Tuareg and Fulbe ... There is similar short sword here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14835&highlight=Chamba
- under Iain´s entry - book "Die Materiell Kultur der nicht-islamischen Ethnien von .....", Picture No 297 (but no tribe mentioned ....). Or - am I trying to "sort to boxes" too much ?
Any ideas are welcome. Thanks
Martin

[TVV]

Martin,

Lovely dagger. The engraving seems similar to the engraving on the blade of a sword sized Tebu dagger I posted here:
http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22101&highlight=tebu

It is also similar to a ceremonial spearhead Tim posted:
http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22205&highlight=tebu

And finally, you can see the same triangular motif on some of the dagger blades in this thread, including the one published by the Frankfurt Etnographic Art Museum in 1985:
http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14874&highlight=tebu

Iain wrote essays in the past about our futile and probably flat out incorrect approach of attempting to a attribute every single weapon from these regions to a particular tribe. In reality, it appears that styles and forms mixed a lot, and it is often hard to even determine whether a weapon originated in a Muslim or Animist group, let alone determine with precise accuracy what it Tebu, Fulani, Kanuri or Matakam. This dagger seems to illustrate Iain's point.

Regards,
Teodor

[Martin Lubojacky]

Thank you Teodor. Yes, it is very probably example of cross influence. Still, it may be, that some features were/are used more generally (engrawings on the blade ?, style of coating of the handle with leather straps ?) by (many) tribes within the wider region, and that some could refer to the concrete craftsman´s origin (like pommel in this case ?)...
Best
Martin