Posts: 75
Thu 21 Oct, 2010 12:14 pm
As a takouba guy I'll wade in. The first thing to remember with swords from this area is that trade routes can account for some rather mixed pieces. Styles overlap and bits get recycled.
The blade is pretty clearly in the kaskara mold. Which means it could be from the Sudan areas or Hausaland. Eitherway that doesn't pin down the geography much as these blades were widely traveled in the Sahel.
The scabbard indicates Manding origin to me, especially the button. I have a takouba that's Manding with similar wicker work on the scabbard.
The turned wood grip is an element seen widely across many different tribes and doesn't help much to pin it down specifically. It's hard to tell from your picture if the ferrel and guard are wood as well? That would be important for an ID.
I have seen one piece in the past that was very similar and given a tentative attribution of Ethiopian by the owner. However it did not have a scabbard and I am inclined to think on the basis of your sword that the attribution was incorrect.
My best guess at this point is Manding, although as I mentioned, due to similar styles being widely used between different tribes/ethnic groups I wouldn't say it with 100% certainty.
If you want to see more takoubas and another Manding scabbard head over here:
http://takouba.org