Quote:
Originally Posted by RobT
ariel,
I certainly believe that Ian's proposal is plausible but I ask you to consider these two arguments.
One, there is not one shred of concrete evidence to prove conclusively that the three blades in African sheaths are of Spanish origin. There are no blade stamps. All we do have is a suite of characteristics that are shared by North African and Spanish knives alike.
Two, the most visible elements on knives and swords are the sheath and the hilt. As such, the styling of these elements invariably reflects the culture of the wearer. For example, many koummya blades were made in Europe but the hilts and the sheaths were made in Africa. Takouba and Tulwar are just two more in a large array of examples of sometimes European blades with always native hilts and sheaths.
With argument two in mind, I find it strange that North Africans would accept a hilt not precisely of their culture. I also find it strange that any European cutlers would bother to supply hilts or sheaths when they could just export the blades alone (a la koummya, etc). This is especially true when one considers that non-culturally correct hilts and sheaths might be a negative selling point.
Sincerely,
RobT
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All true. And, certainly, their scabbard are not Spanish. But the African "locals" could have made " local" scabbards just like in the Moroccan koummya story. And even Spanish scabbards ( if those were provided with the dagger), when they were damaged or just worn out, replacement with "local" scabbard was an inevitability.
Under no circumstance do I insist on the veracity of that "export story". But I think it is so simple and so reminiscent of other African stories ( takouba, gurade, shotel, kaskara, koummya, nimcha) that it may just be plausible. I, for one, think that it might be true, but other scenarios also may be possible. Occam was not 100% correct in each and every case:-)