Latest takouba for comment

[Marc M.]

Hi Lee
Thanks for the comment, i tried to find your photo's in the way back when machine but not so successful yet.
Greetings
Marc

[Yvain]

Interesting sword Marc ! Nice blade indeed, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, did you bought it from a French auction house by any chance ?

Surprisingly, this is not the first blade with those type of markings that I see in newer, Agadez style, mounts. One would need to look into this deeper, but there seems to be a lot of takouba bearing the snake and lion (most likely locally applied) coming from Niger. Here is 3 examples from Norman's website, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others elsewhere :

- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-37
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-98
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-101

Note how they all have the lion and snake in various configurations and styles amongst other symbols, all of them in rather recent Nigerien mounts.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Yvain

Interesting sword Marc ! Nice blade indeed, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, did you bought it from a French auction house by any chance ?

Surprisingly, this is not the first blade with those type of markings that I see in newer, Agadez style, mounts. One would need to look into this deeper, but there seems to be a lot of takouba bearing the snake and lion (most likely locally applied) coming from Niger. Here is 3 examples from Norman's website, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others elsewhere :

- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-37
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-98
- http://takouba.org/catalog/index.php/takouba-101

Note how they all have the lion and snake in various configurations and styles amongst other symbols, all of them in rather recent Nigerien mounts.

Hi Yvain
I bought it on catawiki from a Belgian seller and, yes these markings are not all
that rare, i was referring to the fuller combination, one single wide fuller
flanked by two narrow ones, not so common. Trying to find out what the meaning is off these markings.
Greetings
Marc

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Marc M.

Hi Lee
I tried to find your photo's in the way back when machine but not so successful yet.

I am not finding it either. Give me some time and I will re-photograph the sword I am thinking of with the snake and lion on an older blade in Agadez style silver mounts - it may be a week or two however.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Lee

I am not finding it either. Give me some time and I will re-photograph the sword I am thinking of with the snake and lion on an older blade in Agadez style silver mounts - it may be a week or two however.

No worries, i'm going nowhere.
Greetings
Marc

[Interested Party]

Congratulations. It is an interesting blade. Can anyone tell me about the age and method of this type of engraving? Except for the lion these engravings have a stimpled look. Is the stimple the method in and of itself or is it a byproduct of hitting a graving tool with a mallet? I've seen it on other blades, notably yagathan's with an Anatolian look where it seemed a later addition, but on this blade it seemed consistent with other manufacturing techniques. The 3rd picture from the bottom, that begins with a star, when I first saw it reminded me of Allah written seven times in a row, but when I looked closer I thought not. I would love a clearer detail of the silver work on the chape.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

Congratulations. It is an interesting blade. Can anyone tell me about the age and method of this type of engraving? Except for the lion these engravings have a stimpled look. Is the stimple the method in and of itself or is it a byproduct of hitting a graving tool with a mallet? I've seen it on other blades, notably yagathan's with an Anatolian look where it seemed a later addition, but on this blade it seemed consistent with other manufacturing techniques. The 3rd picture from the bottom, that begins with a star, when I first saw it reminded me of Allah written seven times in a row, but when I looked closer I thought not. I would love a clearer detail of the silver work on the chape.

Hi Interested Party
Its hard to tell when these engravings were made, could be from the moment they entered Africa or later on demand of a client.
The method of engraving depends on the kind of tools the engraver uses, the shape of the point of the tool and how its been used. I've seen engravings with straight lines, dots, v shapes, triangles, and more. Two more foto's of the chape, hope they are clearer.

[Jim McDougall]

This is a VERY nice takouba! and I just wanted to add some notes 'passim' from some years back. A guy who had been working in the Sahara and had acquired some takouba's noted one he had with a lion in a 'sphinx' like pose on the blade.
He got this in Ouagadougo, but said it had come from Arlit (north af Agadez)

The 1926 book, "People of the Veil" by Francis Rennell Rodd (p.233), notes that some 'masri' blades had the mark of a small couchant lion, and these marks on the blades were of course in line with the folk religion of the regions, imbued magic into the blades.
Rodd had been in the Air regions of Niger, which corresponds to the previous note of these marks in Agadez examples.

While the lion seems to have key symbolism in West Africa, it is interesting to note that these particular examples resemble trademarks using lion by C.Lutters & Co. from c. 1840s (Bezdek, p.147).

In the Sahara, the snake it seems has certain reference to a 'holy person' , and in Sudan it is seen on motif with the 'lohr' (prayer panel) along with religious symbolism. The snake is also often seen on Persian blades and symbolism, which often was prevalent Sudan.

There is a great deal of cross pollination of influences from Sahara into Sudan and vice versa, so it is hard to pinpoint exactly how these details fit together. But these notes perhaps might offer some insight into the takouba posted here.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

This is a VERY nice takouba! and I just wanted to add some notes 'passim' from some years back. A guy who had been working in the Sahara and had acquired some takouba's noted one he had with a lion in a 'sphinx' like pose on the blade.
He got this in Ouagadougo, but said it had come from Arlit (north af Agadez)

The 1926 book, "People of the Veil" by Francis Rennell Rodd (p.233), notes that some 'masri' blades had the mark of a small couchant lion, and these marks on the blades were of course in line with the folk religion of the regions, imbued magic into the blades.
Rodd had been in the Air regions of Niger, which corresponds to the previous note of these marks in Agadez examples.

While the lion seems to have key symbolism in West Africa, it is interesting to note that these particular examples resemble trademarks using lion by C.Lutters & Co. from c. 1840s (Bezdek, p.147).

In the Sahara, the snake it seems has certain reference to a 'holy person' , and in Sudan it is seen on motif with the 'lohr' (prayer panel) along with religious symbolism. The snake is also often seen on Persian blades and symbolism, which often was prevalent Sudan.

There is a great deal of cross pollination of influences from Sahara into Sudan and vice versa, so it is hard to pinpoint exactly how these details fit together. But these notes perhaps might offer some insight into the takouba posted here.

Hi Jim
Thanks for your comment and the notes, i shall try too look them up.
Reading some recent and older posts on takouba's, there seems to be a great interest in the markings on these blades. beside this forum its hard too find any additionel info on these markings, especially the native ones.
We know that a lot of Europian blades came into Africa marked and unmarked, numbers are unknown i believe. Europian marks are mostly registerd so more easily traceable.Native markings are somewhat more difficult to date also place of origin and meaning. There is a great variety in quality and size of these markings. So just a thought, perhaps it could be an idea to start a thread where takouba and kaskara collectors post their blades with Europian and native markings for comparisation and discussion.
Greetings
Marc