This is kind of a tough one Teo, but I am inclined to agree, this could be into late 18th c. perhaps into mid. The blade reminds me of the blades on Omani sa'if (generally called kattara in modern parlance).
I think this well might be Indian, and there are of course striking nuances resembling the Sinhalese kastane, as noted.
The 'lion head' does seem more toward the Hindu mythical creatures in the pantheon, but the makara and yali are zoomorphically combined forms, with the makara more reptilian or aquatic and though the yali has elements of the lion, the elephant features lean away from this lionhead.
The ring guard which has for some time (since about '80s) been regarded as a 'Zanzibari' trait cannot actually be specifically assigned to preponderance there. As can be seen, a wide scope of sword types prevailed there including shamshirs, 'kattara' and others. In my view the 'Zanzibar' attribution to the ring guard versions of the Arab sa'if (commonly termed nimcha) may have come about when a volume of swords of the ring guard type found in an arsenal in Yemen were said to have been fabricated in Zanzibar.
The ring guard, like numerous weapons in the Arab sphere, have distinct influences from Italian weapons, many early forms carried via the conduit of trade networks.
I was once told the 'nimcha' or sa'if is not a North African form, but Arab and with of course a great volume of these becoming well known in Algeria and Morocco. Buttin of course labels these Arab sa'if with some Moroccan and Algerian sub attribution. I could not find any of these (and with ring guards) with any Zanzibar attribution (Buttin, 1933).
Getting to this unusual example in the OP, it seems to reflect various elements of the Arabian trade sphere, from Ceylon to India, to Arabia (Yemen, Hadhramaut) and with the familiar guard system of the nimcha, kastane, etc. (North, 1975).
The repousse? silver work seems mindful of the work on Arabian (Hadhramaut) swords that were made for their mercenary forces in Hyderabad. The ring guard of course seems a feature also popular in Yemen, though odd with the nimcha style guard system.
Then we have the Omani style blade well known in Zanzibar, and the ring guard as noted regarded as Zanzibari.
Truly a conundrum, but not surprising given the complexity of these trade spheres.
|