African ethno sabre for coments

[colin henshaw]

Very interesting piece, I have not seen a similar - the sword certainly has a Bambara or Dogon look. The handle probably represents a hyena, as do some Bambara masks...

I assume the inspiration would be a French army officer's sword.

Regards

[Martin Lubojacky]

The pommel (bird head ?) is very interesting. I think you can find similar swords (sabres) in Sahel region cca from N´Djamena further to the west.

[Tim Simmons]

Very nice. The pommel may be a representation of a Hornbill bird which have great significance in Burkina Faso and other sahel regions. There are also similarities to the bird of prophecy relevant to parts of present day nigeria. I feel it is from further west of Nigeria.

Google Hornbill cults Burkina Faso.

[Freddy]

Nice sword.

Tim is probably right.

Perhaps it's the type of sword as was used by the female warriors (amazones) from the kingdom of Dahomey. Their king was called the 'Fon'. These women were called 'Ahosi'. They were the king's personal bodyguard and rather fierce.
More about these women can be read in 'African Arms and Armour' by Christopher Spring.

Here's an old postcard with some of these (already older) women. They all wear sabres.

[katana]

Hi Fernando,
interesting sword. The zoomorphic pommel looks, to me, more reptilian. The lizard, in African mythology, especially in the West, is associated with death. According to the myth 'God' sent a chameleon with the message of eternal life for all, however a faster agile lizard was sent with the message of death. The Chameleon was delayed and the lizard arrived first, delivered the message and the matter settled, dooming mankind with death.

Perhaps, the symbolism of the 'messenger of death' is more apt for a sword ?

The 'eye socket' of the head looks as if there was something mounted there...to represent the eye...now missing?

Kind Regards David

[fernando]

Thanks everybody for the input. Nice to know you people find this piece interesting.
Thank you Tim for the hornbill culture and Freddy for the interesting Ahosi postcard and allusion.
However i am glad David came up with the lizard idea; just because i can acomodate better to that . The hiena and hornbill possibilities would only match (in my mind), providing the artisan had a rather free hand, applying some fantasy to the actual anatomy of such specimens ... a nose too long for the hiena and too large eyebrows (or ears ?) for the hornbill. Of course this a layman's impression; i now nothing, comparing to your people's experienced knowledge.
Concerning the guy's eyes, David, i find it dificult to establish with (my) pictures but, i am convinced that those cavities were originaly meant to be empty. Then again, no absolutes.
But we can say this hilt has a certain artistic touch, can't we ?
If some further coment occurs, Gentlemen, please feel free to post, will you ?
... like another zoomorphic interpretation for the pommel ?
Thanks
Fernando

[Jim McDougall]

This very interesting sabre seems logically attributed to the Dogon, who are from Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) and Mali, as I am inclined to think the zoomorphic hilt resembles a hyena because of the canine snout and rounded ears. It seems that the Dogon do have a temple in Mali dedicated to the hyena, but more detailed significance is unclear. It does not seem that these animals play an important part in Dogon lore, but it is known that in some regions it is in fact a cult animal. Many African secret societies use totemic figures such as leopard, crocodile etc. However, it seems that often in observing African art and material culture, figures are often representative rather than representational, as noted in the hornbill article mentioned by Tim. Therefore, highly stylized images are difficult to identify with certainty in the many variations of ceremonial masks, and clearly as seen here with the pommel of this sword.

Tim and Freddy are the authorities here on African art and weapons, and thier suggestions are of course well placed, as are the others, and as noted it is difficult to determine what creature is represented. This seems to often be the case with many zoomorphic hilts, as in the 'flyssa' which it seems to me most likely the camel suggestion works best (but then you should see the results of my Rohrshach tests!!

It is worthy of note that in Ghana, there is a hyena god in the Ga tribal pantheon, and among the Korumba (Nioniasi) there is a hyena mask worn by one of the dancers in ceremony with other dancers wearing similarly stylized antelope head masks. The Korumba apparantly were driven north to Burkina Faso regions by invading Dogon in earlier times.

Whatever the case, this sabre does seem to be West African, clearly imitating European styled swords and likely intended as a prestige or regalia piece of significance.

[Jim McDougall]

Whoa!! I guess Fernando just posted more pictures!!
Well...the hyena is out, the Rohrshach aint workin' and the 60's are over!! so I dont know what this could be.
Great sabre though! and seems most likely West African as noted.

[fernando]

Allright Jim,
Let me go back to square one and digest all that material !!!
A million thanks.
Lots of health.
Fernando