Kaskara with Arabic "seal" stamp

Jim McDougall · 27th October 2011, 05:50 AM

While it is of course difficult to accurately assess a blade in kaskaras asto being European or native by photos rather than actual handling, it does seem this one reflects possibly being a European trade blade. The fuller profile compares to examples described and illustrated in line drawings in Reed (1987, plate LII, p.168) and Briggs (1965, T8, p.52). Apparantly these each have running wolf on one side and the cross and orb on the other. It is suggested these are German 17th century and a reference to Wallace A524 is cited by Briggs.
While these authors do not unequivocably claim these blades are European, they imply they probably are, and note that native makers did imitate these markings among many others.

The stamp is most interesting and certainly unusual for a kaskara blade, the absence of European markings or copies in the fullers notwithstanding. It is known that stamps with Arabic characters en cartouche were used in Algeria on the blade of a nimcha (Briggs, p.78, plate XVII, b) in one example and of course likely others. The use of stamps by native armourers there and in many of the centers seems to have existed from earlier times and of course into modern times. As these stamps became worn the character of the devices being stamped of course less distinctive, and the depth decreased with quality of definition. In some cases of courses, simple chiseled marks are used, but this rather crude definition is sometimes on old European blades as well, especially with the running wolf.

I think Iains idea is well placed that in one location an industrious trader may have stamped this and blades received by him with a mark, which like most such devices would likely be perceived as talismanic and imbuing the blade with power. In the Reed article, (op.cit. plate LII) he notes that the individual he was interviewing (in 1987) indicated the blade was 'before Kasalla'....that is, a very old blade. Kasalla, as described in Ed Hunley's excellent article , became the heart of modern edged weapons production in the Sudan. These old blades, many indeed quite early European trade blades, were refurbished countless times as they changed hands or were handed down, much as this example clearly exhibits.

27th October 2011, 05:50 AM	#9
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	While it is of course difficult to accurately assess a blade in kaskaras asto being European or native by photos rather than actual handling, it does seem this one reflects possibly being a European trade blade. The fuller profile compares to examples described and illustrated in line drawings in Reed (1987, plate LII, p.168) and Briggs (1965, T8, p.52). Apparantly these each have running wolf on one side and the cross and orb on the other. It is suggested these are German 17th century and a reference to Wallace A524 is cited by Briggs. While these authors do not unequivocably claim these blades are European, they imply they probably are, and note that native makers did imitate these markings among many others. The stamp is most interesting and certainly unusual for a kaskara blade, the absence of European markings or copies in the fullers notwithstanding. It is known that stamps with Arabic characters en cartouche were used in Algeria on the blade of a nimcha (Briggs, p.78, plate XVII, b) in one example and of course likely others. The use of stamps by native armourers there and in many of the centers seems to have existed from earlier times and of course into modern times. As these stamps became worn the character of the devices being stamped of course less distinctive, and the depth decreased with quality of definition. In some cases of courses, simple chiseled marks are used, but this rather crude definition is sometimes on old European blades as well, especially with the running wolf. I think Iains idea is well placed that in one location an industrious trader may have stamped this and blades received by him with a mark, which like most such devices would likely be perceived as talismanic and imbuing the blade with power. In the Reed article, (op.cit. plate LII) he notes that the individual he was interviewing (in 1987) indicated the blade was 'before Kasalla'....that is, a very old blade. Kasalla, as described in Ed Hunley's excellent article , became the heart of modern edged weapons production in the Sudan. These old blades, many indeed quite early European trade blades, were refurbished countless times as they changed hands or were handed down, much as this example clearly exhibits.