Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

blue lander · 18th December 2013, 06:57 PM

Here's a picture from an old auction described as a "TOUAREG JIBOULA". The pattern on the hilt looks very similar to mine, and there's some similarities in the blade it seems too.

Here's a link to another thread with a similar knife, but much smaller:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?p=36293

Actually, if you google zanzibar sword or jiboula sword you can find lots of similar example. Most blades look like cut down larger blades with fullers going all the way to the tip, but on some the fullers stop right before the end of the blade. I wonder if these are locally made blades that were made to look like cut down European blades. I haven't seen any other jiboulas/s'boulas/zanzibar swords with any kind of maker's mark, though. That seems more common on Nimchas.

Also, do we think this blade was made in Germany for export, or was it once a European sword that made its way to Africa?

18th December 2013, 06:57 PM	#31
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	Here's a picture from an old auction described as a "TOUAREG JIBOULA". The pattern on the hilt looks very similar to mine, and there's some similarities in the blade it seems too. Here's a link to another thread with a similar knife, but much smaller: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?p=36293 Actually, if you google zanzibar sword or jiboula sword you can find lots of similar example. Most blades look like cut down larger blades with fullers going all the way to the tip, but on some the fullers stop right before the end of the blade. I wonder if these are locally made blades that were made to look like cut down European blades. I haven't seen any other jiboulas/s'boulas/zanzibar swords with any kind of maker's mark, though. That seems more common on Nimchas. Also, do we think this blade was made in Germany for export, or was it once a European sword that made its way to Africa? Attached Images Last edited by blue lander; 18th December 2013 at 11:29 PM.