[QUOTE=RDGAC]While it's a little disappointing to find that our marking probably has nothing to do with the Mahdist uprising (which'd date the sword very nicely indeed, naturally), the mystery of what the design actually means is equally fascinating. One is inclined to wonder if there is any sort of trade directory for European swordsmiths of, say, the 16th and 17th centuries, which might enable one to discover (with a fair dose of conjecture) which blade-maker's mark was "appropriated" by the locals for use in their swords. Of course, it'd be just my luck if the maker turned out not to have a mark recorded.
Anyway, on we go; next item is what I think is an Omani kattara.
Meredydd Jones,
Assistant Curator RDG[/QUOTE
Actually there are numerous resources which do reflect the markings and various names/phrases etc. on blades of these periods and into modern times. It has been fairly well suggested in earlier discussions that this particular marking may well derive from those of Solingen maker Peter Kull, whose blades entered the Sudanese sphere along with numerous other Solingen blades.
Actually it must be remembered that makers marks and the like were perceived as quality guarantees in Europe, and much in todays sense of marketing, they became widely copied. When these trade blades entered native markets, the emphasis placed on the markings in distributing them became perceived in many cases as imbuing them with power and other talismanic significance. Talismanic symbolism is key in the folk religion and superstition of these regions, and similar meaning can be found in the Arab 'aghrab', a device said to represent a scorpion and is meant to deter the evil eye. This device is so stylized that it is hard to discern that as what the figure represents, but the meaning remains firmly in place. The same type of application seems likely here, whether perceived to mean quality; the imbuing of power to the blade and its warrior or distinctly to deflect the forces of evil.....these are all potentially what may have been meanings, but as these would only have been known by who applied them, and again as perceived by others who used the blade..we can only guess.
The fact that this apparantly distinctly North African derivative of these earlier makers marks cannot be specifically assigned to the Mahdist movement does not eliminate swords with the mark from thier potential as having been among their weapons. It would appear that this type marking was being used as early as the 1880s or before, and the blades found with the marking as late as 1916-17, even though on takoubas, were certainly much older. The blades were a precious commodity, and swords were typically remounted many times through generations, particularly when changing hands.
As far as has been determined, there are really no known markings or stamps that would specify arsenal type application on Sudanese weapons, and of the Mahdist period. The only characteristic that seems typically identifiable with the period would be the various weapons including kaskara that were acid etched with the calligraphic Arabic script known as 'thuluth'. This heavy and broad Arabic script typically covers the entire blade.
I can say that the Peter Kull markings (and derivatives) as well as a lion marking were very much favored in Darfur, the western province of the Sudan, and where the kaskaras are somewhat more distinctly identifiable.
All best regards,
Jim