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Originally Posted by Richard G
I've been reading this thread with interest. Who would have thought it difficult to distinguish between a tribal african artifact and a movie prop?
Anyway, on a purely speculative basis, is it possible to develop one of Colin's possibilities, i.e. that it is a diplomatic gift.
Is it possible this was made in an Islamic or non-tribal African arsenal for trade with, or a gift to, the more southern tribes. I am thinking of somewhere like Khartoum\Omdurman, Bornu, Djibouti etc, which probably would have had access to European trade metalware they could incorporate.
All trade and travel in 19th Cent Africa required immense amounts of 'hongo' or bribe and this looks as if it could fit the bill.
I realise the question of why we haven't seen one before arises.
The Zanzibar nimcha is familiar to us all, but at the risk of exposing my ignorance, do we know where they were actually made? My point is there must have been manufacturing centres that we are not aware of as well as the few we do.
Regards
Richard
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'm with you Richard! The 'movie prop' angle is definitely a new one for these pages, perhaps the 'tourist' or 'souvenir' terms have worn thin
Your note on the bargaining items (bribes etc.) typically key in trade is well placed, and certainly the vast diffusion of arms and material culture, along with influences were carried along the equally vast trade networks of the continent.
I do appreciate the humor in the previous posts, which well illustrate the levity of the movie prop probability, though at the risk of deriding the potential tribal importance of this cuirass/armor/hide vest or whatever correctness deems the proper description.
My curiosity has compelled me to continue research into the potential instances of this interesting combination of crocodile hide and metal, and to be honest, I was looking into the possibility of Sudan much as you have suggested. In my previous post, and from research some years ago, it is well known that crocodile hide was often used on weaponry there, in various degree and application. As I had noted, apparently there was a keen intent of the imbuement of power, in a totemic sense as had been told.
In reading the literature concerning swords of Sudan, there was a mention of 'crocodile cults' (I think it was either Briggs, '65 or Reed '87) and I thought possible connection to the heavily crocodile clad kaskara I had. There was scant information on this topic back then, so I did not pursue it further.
As you have noted, there was considerable presence of metal, materials and machinery present at Khartoum, assembled by Gordon, and captured by the Mahdi in 1885. All of this became stockpiled and liberally used by the Caliph at Omdurman, and remained along with continued materials during the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in the years following the fall (1898).
While the use of these scrap metals etc. was considerable, the use of armor, particularly the mail armor well known previously in Sudan, had waned, though its use had prevailed in trade points to the west through Chad, Bornu and Nigeria. With armor in these regions, it was mail which was favored, but not the 'full metal jacket', with hide cover.
Returning to the West African scene, I looked again toward the 'cults' , in which the most prevalent and notable was that of the "Leopard Society', which seems to have had a history of tribal tradition going back many years. However by the 19th century into early 20th, these warrior groups had become rather nefarious cults, and with apparently diverse ajendas and character.
The 'Leopard men' were one of the most notorious and criminal, and were situated in regions from Liberia and Sierra Leone into other tribal areas.
For the 'movie buffs' here, they became the topic of one of the Tarzan movies ('Tarzan and the Leopard Men' ,1935). The sensational adventure writing of the previous years gave of course much material for these themes.
In these 'societies' (which were more cults ), the members believed (contrived) to become possessed by the carnivorous animals they revered, and they committed heinous crimes while 'under the spell'.
With the 'leopard men' , they dressed as leopards using various covers of either actual hide or material simulating the animal, and designed steel claws (much like the Indian bagh nakh).
These 'shape shifting' totemic identies also included crocodiles, but the 'costuming ' in those cases remain unclear. While there are depictions of the leopard men, I am not aware of similar of 'crocodile men'. However, it would be naive, given the evidence of leopard costumes, to presume nobody devised a crocodile counterpart. Obviously the earlier crocodile vests, cuirass, armor were known and probably still around.