Posts: 93 Location: Florida, USA
Sun 18 Sep, 2005 10:27 am
The actual term for this sword is
gurade. Like the
shotel, this is an Ethiopian (Abyssinian) weapon.
Shotels typically have blades with extreme curvature, sharpened on the concave edge. Ostensibly, they are often used to attack around the edge of a
shield.
Gurade often have curved blades of European manufacture, but straight blades are not uncommon. The handles are horn, occasionally rhino.
Very nice example. I know precious little about Eurpoean trade blades, but I suspect you'll be able to find someone on this or another forum that will recognize the markings and help you place the source of manufacture. Many of these blades are Wilkinson.
Andrew