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Old 7th April 2015, 07:41 PM   #15
Jim McDougall
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
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Thank you so much Norman and Ulfberth for these great examples! as well as the well placed observations.
As noted in the title of this thread, this query is prompted by questions pertaining to the occurrence of faced crescent moons on European blades, particularly those which appear on the blade center near the terminus of fullers.

There is of course a great deal of speculative analysis on what the symbolic or in some cases, talismanic meaning of these crescent moons might have been. This undoubtedly varied in the perceptions of the many circumstances in which they were applied. While this presents fascinating opportunities for possibilities, it is the curious case of multiples in their application, as well as the configuration and position on the blade which is most intriguing.

We know that various stamped marks were placed on European blades and often in multiples as have been seen on examples seen in this thread. It seems that typically makers stamps are most often at the forte on earlier European blades. In the case of most astral themes containing crescent moons as well as stars, sun etc. these are inscribed in central areas of the blade field.

The crescent moons, in pairs, are well known in Saharan regions primarily in North Africa and found on various broadsword blades. These occur invariably at blade center near fullers. We know that large volumes of these blades came from Europe as trade products. We also know that these 'trade' blades apparently inspired native armourers to apply these marks to blades they made as well as others.

It has long been suggested that Solingen indeed produced blades for export to North Africa much as for their many client entrepots in many countries .
It seems these blades may well have been stamped with the moons in Europe in accord with much earlier blade forms also made there.

What we need to discover, and hopefully those of you who have access to resources on Solingen history might have, is some kind of specific reference to documented record of such exports to African markets. Perhaps in addition to finding just how early these moons were used on European blades, we might determine when blades to North Africa began specific export, and if these used the moons.
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