Odd takouba for comment

[Tim Simmons]

I think martin may be right in that it is most probably Hausa even Fulani. The work on the sword handle is so very similar to this knife {sorry for the poor light pictures, will do more tomorrow if needed}. The thing is that the off set fuller can also be seen in the Cameroon.

[Iain]

I want to say that I'm grateful to all of you for the very helpful replies. I had a few more photos taken which you can view here (I won't post them all in the thread to save space):

http://picasaweb.google.com/iain.nor...at=directlink#

Including a few with a typical Tuareg takouba for comparison.




Jim,

Thank you for the warm welcome, I think I can safely say that after reading your posts for a few years, you have more than just "dabbled" with takouba. I think you have a very good point about the possibility of it being a ceremonial piece, but more on that below...

Martin,

Zdravím z Prahy. Je skvělé vědět, že jsou v zemi i další sběratelé! Thank you for the insights and the possible tribal attribution of Hausa. I think you may be correct. I found several pieces that appear to correspond in terms of the cast hilt work:



And the overall form:

http://www.shikra.de/Africa.Voodoo-C...1.html?imgID=0

Tim,

Yes, the blade is heavier than most and less flexible. I think the new pictures show that off a bit better. There might be some merit to Jim's suggestion that this could be ceremonial piece. However I am surprised in that case that it shows signs of having been sharpened at some point as I thought I had read, although I could well be wrong, that typically such pieces were left blunt. Could anyone direct me towards references or preferably pictures of other such ceremonial pieces?

The decorative form on the knife you posted looks to be a great match stylistically. I assume the knife is Hausa?

I think we can definitely agree now that it looks to be Hausa. I want to thank all of you again, my reference library is extremely thin so this forum is invaluable for researching new pieces.

As a side note, I wanted to ask if any of you own or have read "The African Knights: The Armies of Sokoto, Bornu and Bagirmi in the Nineteenth Century" by Cairns? Is it worth purchasing? The description indicates it has a decent assortment of photos and drawings.

Best regards,

Iain

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Iain,
Thank you for the kind words, and it is true I have been intrigued by the weapons of the Sahara and West Africa for some time. I think that you might find the paper "A Nigerian Panoply: Arms and Armour of the Northern Region" by A.D.H. Bivar (abstract can be found online) very helpful. With the cast hilt dagger you have shown there does seem to be compelling suggestion toward the Hausa attribution.

While often weapons may have been intended for ceremonial or perhaps court use, it does not mean that they remained so. If the weapon was removed from that context it may well have been sharpened for everyday wear. Takoubas and other edged weapons are very much regularly worn accoutrements into present times in varying degree in these regions.

I think if you do not already have the book, Christopher Spring's "African Arms and Armour" presents outstanding overview on these topics. The title you have noted I had not heard of, but sounds very promising. It seems most historic references to Africa lean toward either anthropological views or earlier periods. Thus, information on 19th century is always great as it gives good perspective on the period of most of the collected weapons.

"Tribes of the Sahara" by Dr. Lloyd Cabot Briggs (author of the benchmark article on the blades of the takoubas) is a great reference as well.

Thank you again for joining us, and for bringing this interesting example into discussion...as always, learning together!!!

All the best,
Jim

[Iain]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the article recommendation - unfortunately I can't seem to locate the extract of Nigerian Panoply online - it sounds fascinating however.

I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy of Spring's for sometime, unfortunately as it is out of print, the last quote I received from a book dealer here in Prague was somewhat astronomical.

Is the article on takouba blades you mentioned by Briggs part of the "Tribes of the Sahara" volume? My apologies for so many questions but obviously my library needs to grow!

However I did find an interesting, if slightly out of the period we are discussing, article available in it's entirety online on pre-Colonial Hausa states and warefare.

http://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ki...ala%20ACHI.pdf

Best,

Iain

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Iian,
Thank for the link to the article which looks most interesting. I will see if I can find the Nigerian article online again and see if I can post the link....if anyone out there has it already, please post OK.

On the Spring book, before spending a bunch on it, I should point out that the material toward takoubas and Fulani etc. is not comprehensive as this is primarily an overview, though extremely informative as a benchmark for further research.

The Briggs article (as cited in the article by Lee Jones on this site archives, just move down when opening the home page) . It is not in the Tribes of the Sahara volume, which is primarily text and not on weapons but more of an anthropological view.

Post a query on the swaps forum looking for Spring and perhaps somebody out there has an extra or knows where one is.

All best regards,
Jim