[Jim McDougall]

Stone was a brilliant arms collector and scholar whose long venerated and comprehensive volume has remained quite literally the backbone of every serious arms collectors library. While he was indeed remarkably knowledgeable, it is important to remember that he himself acknowledged the limitations of his work (first published in the 1930s) and clearly noted his hopes for others to follow in continued study and advancing knowledge on these arms.
His work served as the cornerstone for the ongoing study of arms, which I think continues here as it has for many years now, in comprehensively reviewing extant material and newly acquired arms for discussion.

In his description Stone noted the AH date, and that it was an Arabic blade, which do typically appear in cartouche, however they are not stamped but in Islamic script inlaid, so his description was entirely accurate as he never claimed it was stamped. These Islamic blades in kaskara were typically much earlier, but not necessarily medieval, and were typically either Ottoman or possibly Mamluk, presumably of high ranking members of the courts or individuals of high status. A good number of these highly decorated Islamic blades did survive as heirloom blades through many generations.



The common kaskara, was often mounted with trade blades, in most cases from Germany, but in some degree from Italy as well. It is important to note that the 'crusader' notion created the idea that these kaskara blades must be 'medieval'. In reality they are typically 'European', not necessarily medieval (though there are instances where some have been found). In most cases blades from Germany are known to have arrived in the Sahara as well as several other ports of entry most notably from sometime in the 17th century onward. Probably some of the earliest blade arrivals came through Saharan regions via Portuguese stations in west Africa, and diffused into tribal areas in these kingdoms who indeed used the broadsword in medieval fashion.

The idea of medieval blades being easily obtained into the 1970s is of course more of the hyperbole noted in various writing and collectors assumptions. While captured blades of the crusades were often 'recycled' as thier steel was highly valuable, a good number were preserved as trophies and these are well known in references today. There were of course large numbers of these arms which survived in Europe, and did not really attract great interest until the romanticized literature of the Victorian period inspired the display of these artifacts in baronial decor. One of the most mitigating factors was that the demand inadvertantly created fabricators such as Ernst Schmitt in Munich who fashioned reproductions so authentic that in many cases museums displayed them as such until recent times. As the general public often could not be certain of authenticity, many actually genuine pieces were tossed into piles of arms being regarded as simply old steel of questionable virtue. Oakeshott describes one such sword found in New Zealand and horribly painted over which turned out authentically medieval.



The increase in volume of German blades into the Sudan came through both Red Sea trade and trade entrepots in Libya, around mid 19th century to the Mahdist period in 1880s through Omdurman (1898). Solingen had become hugely overspeculated around the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71), and there were hundreds of smaller firms producing as outsourced producers for the larger ones. These often ended up either amalgamated or ceasing, so the possibility of records is very slim. Factor in that imports of these blades most certainly ceased after Omdurman as the British and French occupied the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in the condominium guarding interests in the Suez canal. Obviously they would be wary of rearming this nation for future insurgencies and one of the reasons huge volumes of these arms were collected was not for trophies, but to disarm these forces. The kaskara was an extremely deadly weapon in the hands of these tribal warriors.

It is far too complex to try to detail more of how geopolitical turmoil of these times affected circumstances with these blades, but I wanted to give at least some overview in hopes it might create further interest in understanding these important weapons.

All best regards,
Jim