Takouba like sabre

[Tim Simmons]

I got this one today. It is a little rough but it is an old one. Just thought you might like to see. Total length 74cm.

[Lew]

Tim

That is a terrible looking sword not worthy of such a fine collector as yourself :eek: . You should mail it to me as quickly as possible and I will just have suffer with looking at it every day on my wall :D All kidding aside it's a nice piece congrats! Just out of curiosity is it flat ground on the other side of the blade?


Lew

[katana]

Tim

The blade looks well made and 'heavy', do you think it could have originated in Europe?

[Zan]

Hi,

Interesting sword. It is quite unusual for a takouba : the pommel is leather-covered, the blade is a sabre one and the leather on the scabbard and the handle is roughly assembled with thread rather than some kind of glue.
May it be some takouba-influenced tribal sword ? Or a tribal-influenced takouba ?

Here are two pictures of sabre-takoubas (not mine!)

Sincerely,
Zan

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Tim,
These interesting 'sabre' type takoubas seem to come from the Burkina Faso regions around Ouagadougou....at least that is the provenance of the one illustrated by Zan (with yellow background). I acquired that piece a couple of years ago and that was what was indicated. These typically use military blades, mostly French or Solingen originated, and the guards are usually leather covered as the rest of the hilt, the bulbous pommel seems to coincide with other variations of swords from the Mossi regions. The example I have as shown by Zan has the typical Tuareg type pommel.
As Ariel notes, these really are fascinating items, and seem to date from around latter 19th century, though they may well of course be much more recent. These blades are often refurbished many times over.

Best regards,
Jim

[Tim Simmons]

Thank you all, I am very happy with it. The blade is not of European origin and considering the environment and materials at hand to make such weapons , it is forged with an amount of spring to the blade. The blade is elliptical with a flat central fuller on each side. I like the handle and pommel the most, the guard is a little loose which could be fiddled with but if you are not playing with it all the time it should be fine as it is.

[Freddy]

Nice sword, Tim

In 'Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika' I also found some takouba-like swords with leather handles. According to this book these originate from North-Cameroon.

Have a look :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/keris_hanuman/0103.jpg

Freddy