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Old 9th June 2012, 08:29 AM   #4
Iain
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Olomouc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
Hello Gentlemen,
I recently bought this iron lance on ebay (photos below). I would appreciate any comments on the spear's likely age, its probable origins and how much I should clean it up, if I keep it.

It was advertised as an antique african spear. I thought it was probably a tuareg allarh. When the spear arrived today, I noticed what appears to be a brazed diagonal join in the middle of the spear. This join is the only part of the spear which was not photographed close up when it was advertised. I thought the whole of the spear had been photographed close up but these few inches appear to have been omitted.
From the photo I am not sure if its a brazed join or simply an inlay. I wouldn't worry about it overly - this style of spear is not made in recent years, the ones available for the tourist market for the last few decades are entirely different - flat and made from scrap steel.

It is a Tuareg allarh and a decently old one at that. This style was popular with Tuareg ranging all across the Sahel and is in contrast to the wood shafted lances popular with other groups like the Hausa and Kanuri.

Quote:
I am not knowledgable enough to know if such a join can be antique or if I have bought a more modern artifact, thinking it antique. I do not want to jump to conclusions based on my limited knowledge. Can anyone set me straight on this please?

Tough to say really, a lot of takouba will feature repairs on the pommels and grips as well. Often rather crudely done with solder. Here's an example on a sword with quite a lot of age. Again, I wouldn't worry much about it, its a nice spear regardless.

Quote:
I have been an appreciative visitor to your forum for some months now. It is a wonderful source of information. I have a few spears I would love to post photos of for comment and advice but the fear of having made a mistake with this one has finally pushed me into action.

If I do keep the spear, is it going to ruin the value if I give it a good rub with wire wool so the iron and the brass shine out?

Many thanks.

Paul
We all make mistakes in our collecting, well I certainly have! Please do post the rest of your collection.

A polish to remove any active rust is usually well within even what the least "cleaning proactive" collectors such as myself consider acceptable. Just make sure you are cleaning to remove rust and not to try and make it shiny. Less is always more in these cases and with African arms, unlike some other areas of ethnographic collecting, heavy cleaning is usually not desirable.

All the best,

Iain
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