Dear Manolo,
A very nice 19th century shula you have there. I have one that is quite similar. With regards to these so called " ceremonial nimcha's" , I think that the blade of the 20th century shula really come close, not the 19th century variant.
I agree with you that the origin of the "ceremonial nimchas" is tough to pinpoint. Like you, I do not believe that they are tourist items. Who knows, maybe your planned trip will shine a light on this issue. Oh, and bring me back some rhino hilted koummya's will you ?
Attached are pictures of a 20th century shula I have. Again, I still do not have the time to take proper pictures etc of my collection due to private matters.
However, within the very near future I intend to post lots of pics of my north african collection.
Well, here are the pictures: