Colonial hanger, Spanish dagger or ?

colin henshaw · 14th January 2010, 05:04 PM

Hi

I finally laid my hands on this photo I took of a dagger from the Akan (Ghana) area in West Africa, that I owned some years ago. It can be seen the dagger has a similar style of lead inlay decoration applied to the wooden handle, including a spiral form (albeit on a smaller scale).

Another point to note is....a comparison of the West African sword posted by Fernando in August 2008 with this one...the general style and "crudeness" in both swords is quite close.

I'm say, 80% sure Mark's sword if from the forest Kingdoms of West Africa...

Regards.

M ELEY · 16th January 2010, 04:09 AM

Hello Colin and thank you so much for replying,

FINALLY! Definitive proof of lead strapwork on a W African piece. It is nice to finally find proof and catagorize these mystery pieces. Now the only question for me is...is there any connection with the pirate trade? If so, even a weak one and I'll keep the piece. Otherwise, it's off to eBay!

Many of the pirates dealt in the "Black Ivory Trade" as it was called, and I know that the Afon and Dahomey were associated with the trade. Was Ghana? Of course, the pirate/slave connection ended a century or more before slavery itself did, but again if a connection can be made, the piece stays. I'll have to do some research on Ghana. Were they as sea-faring people, like the Barbary corsairs? Research...

14th January 2010, 05:04 PM	#1
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,429	Hi I finally laid my hands on this photo I took of a dagger from the Akan (Ghana) area in West Africa, that I owned some years ago. It can be seen the dagger has a similar style of lead inlay decoration applied to the wooden handle, including a spiral form (albeit on a smaller scale). Another point to note is....a comparison of the West African sword posted by Fernando in August 2008 with this one...the general style and "crudeness" in both swords is quite close. I'm say, 80% sure Mark's sword if from the forest Kingdoms of West Africa... Regards. Attached Images

16th January 2010, 04:09 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Hello Colin and thank you so much for replying, FINALLY! Definitive proof of lead strapwork on a W African piece. It is nice to finally find proof and catagorize these mystery pieces. Now the only question for me is...is there any connection with the pirate trade? If so, even a weak one and I'll keep the piece. Otherwise, it's off to eBay! Many of the pirates dealt in the "Black Ivory Trade" as it was called, and I know that the Afon and Dahomey were associated with the trade. Was Ghana? Of course, the pirate/slave connection ended a century or more before slavery itself did, but again if a connection can be made, the piece stays. I'll have to do some research on Ghana. Were they as sea-faring people, like the Barbary corsairs? Research...