Kaskara with a peculiar maker mark

[Mauro]

Dear lovers of African and European swords, I add a kaskara with a european blade. It is unusual because it has a curved blade that is unsuaul for a kaskara. There is a maker mark at the forte that depict what to me look like a Roman soldier. The blade has a one and 1/4 cutting edge. The blade looks quite old and I suppose that an expert of XVIII to XIX century military blades could establish from where it come from. The brass guard is slightly different from the guards of the kaskara of the end of the XIX centuryx. It is hand made. The handle is covered with leather and it has a leather covered pommel. I hope to find the origin of the blade although it could have been married with the rest in later age. I think it is at least from the end of the XIX century.

[TVV]

Very nice sword Mauro, thank you for sharing with us. The knight marking is of Clauberg from Solingen. Blades by this maker were very prized on the Arab peninsula, based on info A. Alnakkas collected at local souks. I would not be able to tell you what years the mark without any writing around it was used, but if someone can then it might give some insight as to when the blade was produced. 19th century seems like a very reasonable estimate on age.

Saber blades on kaskara hilts are indeed very unusual and I even have a kaskara with a blade that was reworked from curved to straight. Perhaps in this case an exception was made due to the blade's high perceived value.

[Rick]

Is this style of fuller common or have a name or an era when it was popular?
I ask because I've a Malay sabre with the same style of fullers.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by TVV

Very nice sword Mauro, thank you for sharing with us. The knight marking is of Clauberg from Solingen. Blades by this maker were very prized on the Arab peninsula, based on info A. Alnakkas collected at local souks. I would not be able to tell you what years the mark without any writing around it was used, but if someone can then it might give some insight as to when the blade was produced. 19th century seems like a very reasonable estimate on age.

Saber blades on kaskara hilts are indeed very unusual and I even have a kaskara with a blade that was reworked from curved to straight. Perhaps in this case an exception was made due to the blade's high perceived value.

Wilhelm Clauberg was a Solingen maker listed as early as 1857 and while specifics are unclear, most swords and bayonets made by him(with this knight marking) seem to predate the Franco-Prussian war.

While clearly the kaskara used by native forces in the Sudan preferred the broadsword blade, many significant figures (chiefs or prominent) seem to have adopted the curved saber in varying degree in accord with Arab sabers such as shamshirs etc.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by TVV

Very nice sword Mauro, thank you for sharing with us. The knight marking is of Clauberg from Solingen. Blades by this maker were very prized on the Arab peninsula, based on info A. Alnakkas collected at local souks. I would not be able to tell you what years the mark without any writing around it was used, but if someone can then it might give some insight as to when the blade was produced. 19th century seems like a very reasonable estimate on age.

Saber blades on kaskara hilts are indeed very unusual and I even have a kaskara with a blade that was reworked from curved to straight. Perhaps in this case an exception was made due to the blade's high perceived value.

Yes indeed, to this day those blades especially if in good condition are highly sought after due to their balance, light weight and overall attractive shape.

[Edster]

Mauro,

You have a very nice saber, but please don't call me too stuffy if I can't call it a Kaskara. As we accept, the kaskara is a double edged straight broad sword with a signature forged iron cross guard and scabbard. Your saber has a cast copper alloy cross guard in the Ottoman style often seen on Thuluth inscribed swords in the otherwise kaskara style.

Agreed in the 18th C & early 19th C elites across the Sahel used imported sabers, but they gave way once European trade blades flooded Sudan from the early 19th C. onward. During this period the iconic kaskara style emerged and solidified.

Does your saber has a scabbard? Its style could support the saber's origin.

Best,
Ed

[werecow]

That double fuller going into a quadruple fuller reminds me of this Aceh peudeung blade, except for the tip and the smaller ricasso. Does anyone know if these Indonesian sword blades were inspired by those (presumably older) blades? It seems a bit specific to be a coincidence.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by werecow

That double fuller going into a quadruple fuller reminds me of this Aceh peudeung blade, except for the tip and the smaller ricasso. Does anyone know if these Indonesian sword blades were inspired by those (presumably older) blades? It seems a bit specific to be a coincidence.

what an attractive blade. Can you post dimensions? as far as I know, most of this type of blade are pattern welded, but some, very rarely, are wootz.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

what an attractive blade. Can you post dimensions? as far as I know, most of this type of blade are pattern welded, but some, very rarely, are wootz.

Sure! I'll create a separate thread for it actually so as to not hijack this one (though I'd still be interested in the connection between the blades).

[Philip]

Originally Posted by werecow

That double fuller going into a quadruple fuller reminds me of this Aceh peudeung blade, except for the tip and the smaller ricasso. Does anyone know if these Indonesian sword blades were inspired by those (presumably older) blades? It seems a bit specific to be a coincidence.

The example you show is an Aceh interpretation of one of those European saber blades with "split" fullers. The features you cite are defining features of the Aceh versions, which tend to be lighter than the European originals, and often of very fine steel showing prominent pattern-welding.

Back to the subject of this thread, saber blades with this fuller pattern were widely exported to the East from Europe. You see slightly curved ones mounted up as Caucasian shashkas. More deeply curved blades with widened back-edges in the tip regions are occasionally seen on Ottoman and Balkan hilts. They were used within Europe, as well. Here is one fitted up as a Polish or Hungarian hussar saber:

[werecow]

Ah interesting, thanks. I'm guessing that saber looks 18th century? How far back does the split fuller practice go?