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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
... The sword basic form is Benin African tribal ... I can see how this may have been rehilted by the Portuguese dominant in the region but I think it premature to link the hilt with the Sri Lankan examples on Kastanes... On your reference this is a European Lion...
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Benin origin as said by the author. My imagination drives me to realize that, following the practice had with the ivory and bronze objects from Benin, seen in the best musems out there ( Met ... British ...), in that those speechless artifacts were ordered by Portuguese navigators to bring home to those interested noble and wealthy, it could well be that such sword blade was hilted (not necessarily rehilted) by a local smith under Portuguese 'customer' instrutions and the setup brought directly home. I fail to see the logic of the loop Around Ceilão, as suggeste by the author/owner. The face of a Portuguese in the bridge is rather plausible, as entire Portuguese soldiers, with crossbow, musket and all, were featured in bronze miniatures and ivory salt cellars.
But an European Lion ... i never thought of that
