This as evolved into a very interesting conversation thanks to you all ! I thought that modern takouba where almost always of "modern" style, and had never seen before an attempt at emulating an older style.
It seems to me that modern (post-WW2) tuareg takouba are very distinct from the older ones, so is the imitation of an older style specifically an Hausa practice or is there also fairly recent tuareg takouba made in the older style ?
Also, I understand that the pommel and blade on the one I posted are older, but do you think that the new fittings and scabbard were created to be used in situ, or to sell it to visitors ?
Sorry for all the questions, but I really like this type of swords and would love to learn as much as possible about them !
Regarding the blade, it seems like the absence of dukari marks does happen from time to time on wide Hausa blades (for example :
http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php...usa-people/132), if I had to hazard a guess, maybe it could be because those blades didn't "pretend" to be of european origin ? (I think I remember reading that the half moon mark was originally stamped on blades by European makers, and was later copied by local smiths to suggest the same quality for their production, but I'm not sure ...)
Finally, while I'm still somewhat sad I didn't get this sword (I still really love the general look of it), I'm glad I didn't overspent on it, thanks for making me feel better about it
