[Jim McDougall]

The more I look at William's blade, the more the conundrum of its markings puzzle me. I cannot get past the idea that this is a native made blade and of the early 20th c. While the elliptical fuller is of a form well known on many European blades, there was typically a forte of some sort on European blades .

As I earlier noted, the cross and orb on European blades was typically used at fuller terminal and at blade center, not 'in' the fuller and near the hilt. It was not a makers mark but more of a talismanic augmentation. In Sudan, it seems a regularly seen convention to place these kinds of marks at the blade root.
We have seen in Briggs (1965) that the curious marks from his work (a strange geometric device that Briggs believed derived from either Kull or other Solingen marks) were typically placed in this location. Other marks which resemble stylized 'death head' of Kull also appear at blade root in variation.

These marks are approximated by Sudanese artisans and deeply stamped much in the European manner. Here I would note that the cross and orb on William's blade is not centered in the fuller, where it should not be in the first place if indeed European.

The hexagonal section of the blade is not in the manner of such blades from Solingen also, and in this case seems sharply beveled steel stock rather than forged in typical hexagonal fashion.

This leads me to the curious case of the lion, which as it appears in two blades and in the same orientation and appears to be from the same stamp, suggests the armourer was following perhaps a well emplaced tradition ….as noted by Pallme (1844).

The Pallme reference has given us I believe a red herring as well as the note of these marks as he observed in 1837-39. In his book he illustrates the cross and orb, but only notes a lion was also applied to these blades he presumed were from Austria. There is no image of the lion, or for that matter how these were oriented on these blades. I suspect that his assumption the blades came from Austria was because he was cataloguing the goods imported from Austria...however these may well have been Solingen blades. We know that Solingen blades did have standing lions and cross and orb in many cases particularly Kull examples.

Added to the lion mark on William's blade is the curious 4 point mark, which while in the manner of the many indeterminate 'Rorshach' marks well catalogued by Sir James Mann (Wallace Coll. 1962)...appears perhaps to be a water lily. While uncertain of this symbolic meaning, it seems strategically placed next to the lion, and suggesting possibly some sort of allegoric theme.

Clearly we have much more research to do on the methods and significance of blades being marked in Sudanese (including Kordofan and Darfur) contexts and the nature of the stamps they appear to have used.


In attached photos the line illustrations are from Briggs (1965) and the type of lion I think was alluded to in Pallme (1844). The 'fly' marking seems to have perhaps (as suggested by Briggs) evolved into the curious geometric device also pictured . These occur in various forms as does the strange figure with 'eyes' thought to resemble Kulls death head.

Note the lion 'variant' from a kaskara said to have been purchased before 1975 in Asmara. Clearly the stamps which may have been used earlier (these with coiled tail) have been lost or damaged or perhaps another maker using a different one?