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Originally Posted by Lew
Vandoo the set with the cows head mace that mace is Indo Persian even though it is old. I just find these sets to be ceremonial rather than for combat the blades are very thin with no discernible edge. You often see Kaskara with this type on thuluth writing on the blade and they have dull edges also. There were a lot of British soldiers in the Sudan at the turn of the 19th-20th century. I just think some savvy locals found ways of supplying them with battle field keepsakes. It's amazing how many of these sets I have seen over the years.
Lew
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What Lew said. There are a lot of thin bladed kaskara and daggers with no edge. Almost always with thuluth - that is not to say all thuluth items are perhaps not intended for use. But I would be very hard pressed to imagine that some these examples were not made for those who travel, although that is not to say all were.
We have seen in the past some very odd kaskara that seem to have originated from Egypt, this may be the case with some of these items as well.
The post card in this thread showing one of these sets, looks to be a staged scene. A popular practice I believe at the time, from the range of items scattered around I have to wonder if the photographer supplied the "props" or if the men in the photo brought their own... The former possibility would unfortunately cast some doubt on using this photo as a solid reference for the tribal use of these dagger sets.
On the other hand, as badges of office and command these would make sense. Did you have any luck digging up a reference on that David? I'm intrigued - it's been a while since we had a good discussion on here about thuluth stuff!