Hi Mauro,
Excellent references to Boccia& Coelho, and thank you so much for posting them. I very much appreciate your very proactive manner in presenting items for discussion by including information and details you have found which set an excellent benchmark for observations. The blades on these examples shown in "Armi Bianch Italiene" indeed appear to be the prototypes for the blades which became native produced in North African broadswords, most specifically those which became known there as 'masri'.
The paper written by Lhote is cited by Briggs and noted in the bibliography. I actually have not read it, but only have noted Briggs citations. It is of course in French and can probably be obtained through channels. I would actually like very much to obtain a copy as well, and though I have long meant to, have never seemed to have accomplished that.
As both Iain and Lee have suggested, and I am inclined to agree, the blade probably is European, though I am always initially hesitant to apply that assessment since the native examples are typically quite well produced. In discussions over time Iain and I have both come to believe that there were probably producers in Solingen who made blades specifically for export to trade in North Africa and Arabian entrepots, many of which ended up even in India. These triple fuller type blades have turned up in Omani broadswords ( typically termed kattara) , Indian pata, and of course both takouba and kaskara. Many of these type blades turn up even in West Africa in areas of Sierra Leone and others in degree. It would seem that these blades probably were already being produced by native smiths in North Africa before the form became produced in Solingen to augment supplies. At this point the dynamics of these productions and exports remain unclear and largely speculation pending further research, but the possibility is compelling.
As Iain has noted, the markings on these are often quite well executed to a degree, however there are subtle elements which reflect less detail than the originals. These arm in cloud markings appear to have been copied from earlier examples, much as in a number of the other marking forms which occur in variation on these blades in North African settings. It does seem that these types of cabalistic and ethereal themes from many European blades indeed did appeal to the celestial and lunar concepts in the folk religions and traditions in these regions. These were of course readily adopted as symbols or allegories in the native parlance. A number of these have been previously discussed such as the 'fly' marking which became noted toward the agility of the warrior in combat; the lion, which is an important icon in Hadendoa and other tribal cultures; and the cross and orb which became significantly interpreted as drum and sticks, important in warrior and tribal hierarchy.
All the best,
Jim
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