Machete from Span-Am war?

[Jim McDougall]

Actually that was an excellent contribution Ariel! so cant see why you would be embarrassed.........now when I reread my posts analyzing these ....Cuba, Algeria, Philippines, Balkans, Bedouins etc etc....good grief! I brought in everything but Elvis and UFO's!!! now thats embarrassing

Excellent example that Marc posted there, and I thought your sabre was really an attractive item.

OAKSP, excellent item you show here also. It really is amazing how many weapons we have looked at over the years and considered Spanish colonial or North African, and never realized the possibility of Cuba and South America.

All the best,
Jim

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody,

When I saw the hilt, my first impression was:

- European influence: 17thC Clamshell D guard

- Yemeni influence: Brass nails/studs

- Malay influence: Makara pommel(?)

Forgive my ignorance.

Best.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Amuk Murugul

Hullo everybody,

When I saw the hilt, my first impression was:

- European influence: 17thC Clamshell D guard

- Yemeni influence: Brass nails/studs

- Malay influence: Makara pommel(?)

Forgive my ignorance.

Best.

Amuk,
These were all outstanding deductions! and display reasoning as far from ignorance as can be!!! Every one of those observations has distinct merit.
As you can see, these unique weapons have been puzzling many if not most of us for years...I know that I can personally note the ten or more years that I have considered these swords identification inconclusive.

All best regards,
Jim

[Gavin Nugent]

There is a similar blade currently on you know where that is Mexican so I too would say Spanish American war, Cuban or Mexican origins but my initial thoughts without studying further were North African....

Gav

[Gonzalo G]

I just found this thread. This is a variation of the spanish colonial machete used by the Ejército de Ultramar in Puerto Rico and Cuba, a model known as Guanabacoa. It seems a modified version, or a custom version. Please see this document:

http://www.catalogacionarmas.com/public/34-Ultramar.pdf

My best regards

Gonzalo

[Jim McDougall]

Gonzalo, that is a magnificent reference! Thank you for posting it as it clearly substantiates the Cuban attribution to these unusual fingerstalled weapons. I recall my first experience with one of these which I obtained about 13 years ago. It had provenance to Monterrey, Mexico and the blade was absolutely a blacksmith grade weapon with a heavy steel blade, unfullered, with these curvy motif stamps in repeated motif pattern most of its length.
With its provenance and heavy brass hilt with the same shape, fingerstalled and with crude shellguard and knucklebow added, much of the general thinking toward the piece was associated with the espada ancha of frontier regions in Mexico.

Some years later I was fortunate to have some good discussions with a former curator of an Arizona museum who indicated that one of these had once been among thier holdings, and the concensus was that it was from Cuba. In a catalog of a well known dealer whose name I will not note, there were two of these captioned as Algerian swords! Later, another of these turned up in an auction in London, listed as Mexican.

This reference seems excellent, and concurs with several other sources who claim these weapons, in some slight variations, were brought home by troops returning from the Spanish American war in both Cuba and the Philippines.

Thank you Gonzalo for the outstanding reference, which I can now add to my notes, and we can consider this one pretty much resolved

Nicely done, and the follow through very much appreciated.

All the best,
JIm

[Gonzalo G]

Thank YOU, Jim, for your continuous support.
My best regards

Gonzalo