etched kaskara blade?

[stephen wood]

...I have been able now to make some better images, including a negative (which can show the etching better).

Now that I've actually handled it I can add; it is actually very well-made and appears to be quite old - there are areas of pitting and wear. There is nothing of the rather "raw" look that some of the (short/wide/flat) etched blades possess.

It is 36" long (not including the tang), 2" at it's widest point tapering to 1 1/2".
Unsharpened. There is a single broad fuller. The etching consists of what appears to be a single 3-character "phrase" repeated along both edges and a longer "phrase" etched in the fuller towards the ricasso. Identical on both sides.

It is quite unlike any kaskara I have handled before - closer I think than anything I have seen to the Islamic swords that are said to be the kaskara's antecedent.
I wonder if anyone can pick out the script from the new images?

[stephen wood]

...a gentle clean has revealed the partially visible W. CLAUBERG SOLINGEN mark on the tang. I have seen kaskaras with Clauberg blades before but none like this broad, single-fullered type.

I understand that Clauberg blades, with their trademark of a man in armour, were known in Arabic-speaking countries as Abu Askari - bearer of the soldier.

I have as yet been unable to take a clear photo of the stamp - here is the same mark on a Civil War Officers' Sabre.

Interesting how some kaskara blades which were thought to be unmarked are revealing maker's marks on, or near, the tang - in this case it had to be the tang as there's no ricasso.