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#1 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,339
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I will be interested to see if the blade bears this mark, Lew .
Leather Therapy for the scabbard ... ![]() |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Denmark
Posts: 157
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Rick, the guy had four for sale, one of which looked to have a mark similar to the one you are interested in.
Like Iain I would have loved to pick up some of these, but Danish customs are really no fun, so my route to Europe would be even more circuitous than Iain's ![]() ![]() |
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#3 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 3,191
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Here are some pics of the one I won. Below that is the other kaskara with similar markings to Ricks piece.
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#4 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,339
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I'm really starting to think that this is a native mark .
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#5 | |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Olomouc
Posts: 1,717
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greenville, NC
Posts: 1,854
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Nice piece, Lew...and quite a bargain.
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#7 | |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 3,191
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Thanks Charles. I was surprised that no one else bid on it. ![]() |
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#8 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 10,281
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Indeed it is Rick, and you and I have been kicking this one around quite a few years! ![]() Much like many of the European markings which had circulated through the trade networks and native armourers centers through the 19th century and before, these markings were interpreted in use by these artisans. While the European purpose was of course mostly guild accordance and ostensibly quality assurance, the natives perceived these marks quite differently and applied them in terms of thier own meanings. In this case, the marking had been loosely stylized from the original which had appeared more faithfully in takoubas earlier (see Raidera sword, Briggs, 1965, plate XX) and as the fly (termed duran in local dialect, Sudan). In native perception this was, as with many of these marks, magic, in this case to empower the warrior to 'jump as the fly' in combat. It would seem that by the time of the Hadendoa swordmaking industry in Kassala, this stylized form, along with numbers of others, the crecent moons etc. had become quite stylized, though I believe in this form it was probably used for generations. These blades seen here with Lews and the one with the 'duran' probably had been around quite a few years, though of course they are refurbished with new mounts virtually with each change of hands in many cases. All the best, Jim |
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#9 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,339
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I think what I've got here is a native blade, Jim; a very nice native blade; irregularities in the forging are apparent, no forte to the blade .
![]() Very lively steel. I expect Lew's sword will share the same characteristics . ![]() |
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#10 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 10,281
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Good call Rick, and Im inclined to agree. It is interesting though, in recent discussions it seems there is some suggestion that the absence of forte does not necessarily eliminate European production. It seems there are examples of swords from some producers without the usual forte block, though no examples spring immediately to mind. Beyond that, there seems to be also the possibility that some blades made in Solingen for export were made specifically for these North African markets and some of them were indeed without the forte.
The Solingen blade producing machine seems to have few bounds in the range of production styles tailored to certain clientele, as has been seen in the rapier blades produced far into the 18th century for the anachronistically favored cuphilts for Spain, long after the advent of the smallsword. |
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