African sword for ID

Luc LEFEBVRE · 4th September 2006, 08:37 PM

A friend sent me these pics of a sword with scabbard bought in GABON.
It seems to be made of copper.
Any idea for the origin ?
Luc

Tim Simmons · 4th September 2006, 08:42 PM

Fabulous, I image it must be from the Gabon and neighbors.

katana · 4th September 2006, 09:17 PM

What a lovely sword.....would I be right in saying that it is cast in a mould.

Flavio · 4th September 2006, 09:22 PM

Hi Luc, maybe if the handle and the scabbard are bronze, the area of origin is a little more at north (Cameroon?). Anyway a very nice piece!!!

Luc LEFEBVRE · 4th September 2006, 09:42 PM

I was thinking of a sword inspired by the Bamun/Bamileke, due to the lot of engravings (too much for me

).But this is not the common shape of this area.
The handle seems to be inspired by the north tribe ( T shape) takouba...
The blade is ...a standard one like a ...roman glaive, or a Fang one !
The most incredible is the scabbard, I'm not sure it is cast in a mould, copper is a soft metal, it can be "repoussé" easily used in sheets.
Well it's hard to answer my friend with an exact origin.

1) it is a parade weapon made for prestige.
2) it belongs to a chief or a king, due to the copper and the work on the scabbard.
3) the blacksmith was a real artist.

Luc

Jim McDougall · 4th September 2006, 10:33 PM

The swords of Central Africa are fantastic in that they reflect the art and material culture of the regions they are from so profoundly. Naturally such art exceeds geographic and tribal boundaries so it is extremely difficult to be certain of definite attribution without detailed provenance, however I would agree that Gabon, Cameroon and western Congo regions would be most likely.
In "Beaute Fatale: Arms d'Afrique Centrale" (Brussels, 1992), there are Fang courtswords with somewhat similar hilts (p.146) but the scabbards are not nearly as flamboyant as this one. It is interesting that the stylized symmetry of this scabbard recalls those of the Salampasu of Zaire, which appears to have possibly evolved from anthromorphic figures (p.133 and p.237 for comparisons).

I think it is interesting also that the disc type hilts and the crossguard with the quillon/crossguard/langet dynamics seem to represent influences of European weaponry and the centuries of colonial presence in these regions.
While many of the blades on these weapons are unusually flamboyant and clearly for ceremonial purposes, the blade on this one seems quite functional.

Best regards,
Jim

katana · 4th September 2006, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katana

What a lovely sword.....would I be right in saying that it is cast in a mould.

I thought the ENTIRE sword was of copper... and therefor 'one-piece'.

Is it me ..or does the scabbard have a stylised form of a lizard?...the handle becoming the tail when in its scabbard

Luc LEFEBVRE · 5th September 2006, 09:27 PM

Good idea Katana, why not a lizard ?
I've asked, the blade is made of iron not copper.
Luc

Rinaldo · 27th September 2006, 09:13 AM

imressive specimen. Maybe a shiele royal sword?

4th September 2006, 08:37 PM	#1
Luc LEFEBVRE Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: France Posts: 472	African sword for ID A friend sent me these pics of a sword with scabbard bought in GABON. It seems to be made of copper. Any idea for the origin ? Luc Attached Images

4th September 2006, 09:42 PM	#5
Luc LEFEBVRE Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: France Posts: 472	I was thinking of a sword inspired by the Bamun/Bamileke, due to the lot of engravings (too much for me ).But this is not the common shape of this area. The handle seems to be inspired by the north tribe ( T shape) takouba... The blade is ...a standard one like a ...roman glaive, or a Fang one ! The most incredible is the scabbard, I'm not sure it is cast in a mould, copper is a soft metal, it can be "repoussé" easily used in sheets. Well it's hard to answer my friend with an exact origin. 1) it is a parade weapon made for prestige. 2) it belongs to a chief or a king, due to the copper and the work on the scabbard. 3) the blacksmith was a real artist. Luc Last edited by Luc LEFEBVRE; 4th September 2006 at 10:10 PM.

4th September 2006, 08:42 PM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,746	Fabulous, I image it must be from the Gabon and neighbors.

4th September 2006, 09:17 PM	#3
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,653	What a lovely sword.....would I be right in saying that it is cast in a mould.

4th September 2006, 09:22 PM	#4
Flavio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Italia Posts: 1,243	Hi Luc, maybe if the handle and the scabbard are bronze, the area of origin is a little more at north (Cameroon?). Anyway a very nice piece!!!

4th September 2006, 10:33 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,800	The swords of Central Africa are fantastic in that they reflect the art and material culture of the regions they are from so profoundly. Naturally such art exceeds geographic and tribal boundaries so it is extremely difficult to be certain of definite attribution without detailed provenance, however I would agree that Gabon, Cameroon and western Congo regions would be most likely. In "Beaute Fatale: Arms d'Afrique Centrale" (Brussels, 1992), there are Fang courtswords with somewhat similar hilts (p.146) but the scabbards are not nearly as flamboyant as this one. It is interesting that the stylized symmetry of this scabbard recalls those of the Salampasu of Zaire, which appears to have possibly evolved from anthromorphic figures (p.133 and p.237 for comparisons). I think it is interesting also that the disc type hilts and the crossguard with the quillon/crossguard/langet dynamics seem to represent influences of European weaponry and the centuries of colonial presence in these regions. While many of the blades on these weapons are unusually flamboyant and clearly for ceremonial purposes, the blade on this one seems quite functional. Best regards, Jim

5th September 2006, 09:27 PM	#8
Luc LEFEBVRE Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: France Posts: 472	Good idea Katana, why not a lizard ? I've asked, the blade is made of iron not copper. Luc

27th September 2006, 09:13 AM	#9
Rinaldo Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 2	imressive specimen. Maybe a shiele royal sword?