Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Takouba: European or African copied blade ??

Jim McDougall · 15th February 2012, 05:45 AM

Hi Mauro,
Its always exciting to see examples of takouba and kaskara with these interesting blades, and it truly is a challenge trying to assess whether or not the blades are European trade blades or produced by the skilled smiths in these regions.
This does appear to be a considerably old blade, and has clearly endured generations of remounting, sharpening and reprofiling, but the markings seem to have remained remarkably discernable.

Actually the arm brandishing a sword from ethereal clouds is quite similar to the example shown in Briggs (XIX, E, p.82-83) and described as one of several seen by Henri Lhote near Agades in 1949. One of these had an oriental scimitar, while this had the European type sword. The distinctive spiraled motif for the clouds is apparant on example E as on yours, as well as the European type sword. Virtually the same design has been seen on examples of sa'if in Yemen, and on British swords of the 18th century (often with German supplied blades).

In my opinion yours, and likely the one seen by Lhote, are probably native copies of the markings seen on authentic German blades which had come into the Red Sea trade and trans-Saharan caravan routes much earlier. These designs remained among those used by some of the native smiths and were indeed impressively done in most cases. In your example the arm lacks the articulations of armor usually seen on the German examples, at least that is my impression. The blade type resembles the central triple fuller type typically seen on kaskara.

The arm holding the sword is a device used apparantly in Germany primarily but adopted by some other centers later. It is typically associated with Peter Munch of Solingen (1595-1660), and who often included the magical symbols of sun, moon and stars which became popular later on talisman blades.It seems that the clouds were added later, probably sometime in the 18th century and much like a number of the symbols used on these blades, thier character compellingly resembles those seen on suits of tarot cards.

Thank you for sharing this takouba Mauro !!!

All the best,
Jim

15th February 2012, 05:45 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,739	Hi Mauro, Its always exciting to see examples of takouba and kaskara with these interesting blades, and it truly is a challenge trying to assess whether or not the blades are European trade blades or produced by the skilled smiths in these regions. This does appear to be a considerably old blade, and has clearly endured generations of remounting, sharpening and reprofiling, but the markings seem to have remained remarkably discernable. Actually the arm brandishing a sword from ethereal clouds is quite similar to the example shown in Briggs (XIX, E, p.82-83) and described as one of several seen by Henri Lhote near Agades in 1949. One of these had an oriental scimitar, while this had the European type sword. The distinctive spiraled motif for the clouds is apparant on example E as on yours, as well as the European type sword. Virtually the same design has been seen on examples of sa'if in Yemen, and on British swords of the 18th century (often with German supplied blades). In my opinion yours, and likely the one seen by Lhote, are probably native copies of the markings seen on authentic German blades which had come into the Red Sea trade and trans-Saharan caravan routes much earlier. These designs remained among those used by some of the native smiths and were indeed impressively done in most cases. In your example the arm lacks the articulations of armor usually seen on the German examples, at least that is my impression. The blade type resembles the central triple fuller type typically seen on kaskara. The arm holding the sword is a device used apparantly in Germany primarily but adopted by some other centers later. It is typically associated with Peter Munch of Solingen (1595-1660), and who often included the magical symbols of sun, moon and stars which became popular later on talisman blades.It seems that the clouds were added later, probably sometime in the 18th century and much like a number of the symbols used on these blades, thier character compellingly resembles those seen on suits of tarot cards. Thank you for sharing this takouba Mauro !!! All the best, Jim