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Originally Posted by fernando
No actual confusion has taken place, Peter.
Only a quid pro quo between me and Jim.
No need to complicate things  . |
No complications Fernando, actually what was important was that I considered the unusual position of placement on the blade for this 'whatever it is' stamp. While I thought I was clearly indicating the area of the blade, I inadvertently used the wrong term (a malady my wife assures me happens often in my case).
What I was thinking of was 'ricasso' (and again I am sure we can go into a nomenclature romp on this as well)…...and thinking of the often blockish area of the blade at the base of the guard, typically part of the tang.
As always, grateful for your elucidation, and one of the benefits of always learning here.
Getting back to the dilemma of this circular cartouche which seems to have been somewhat consistently applied to these apparently German blades in Algerian context, the location of the stamp suggests a location in common where it must have been applied. In ethnographic cases, such markings are dismally recorded, if at all, but finding some reference would be wonderfully important. What these marks suggest to me is either an arsenal or some central location/entrepot where these blades were received and mounted for dispersal to various clientele.
Surely such a reference is usually beyond the scope of most studies, but simply acknowledging such presence on a number of blades in this character is a case which will remain awaiting further evidence. As seen by the tenacious members here who bring up threads often many years old, the relentless search never ends.
Thank you Ibrahiim for the nomenclature which well clarifies. The Venetian cartouche with the winged lion is well noted, as Midelburgo brought up earlier, is compelling but I don't think works. I am pretty sure that these Algerian cartouches have some Arabic characters, but as Briggs notes these are typically indiscernible.