ANOTHER LANCE ... BORNU ? your views please

thinreadline · 19th January 2012, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinreadline

This is a lance I have had in my collection since the nid 80s . It is almost exactly the same as the one in Liverpool Museums ethnographic colection which features a Bornu horseman complete with a lance of this type, takouba and padded armour. Mine is 10' long o/a , with a 2' head, and 1'9'' heel . The hardwood shaft is just over 1'' diameter. The blade has a strong median ridge and geometric designs.

Here are some pics of the iron butt of the lance that I should have included originally . The length of the butt is 54 cm . It is spear headed at the end , then round cross sectioned , then square cross sectioned and finally as it joins the shaft it is round again , gradually swelling .

Iain · 19th January 2012, 11:29 AM

Thanks Richmond! Always good to see these details as it helps to develop some sense of how to distinguish between the lances.

This is quite different obviously then from the flat and flared butts encountered on Tuareg and in fact most other lances I have seen from the region.

Great reference for the future!

Martin Lubojacky · 20th January 2012, 09:43 AM

Hello,
Finally - after some years of asking re origin of this spear here in Nigeria, the spear should be comming from Katsina, Sokoto, Kano Emirates.

Martin Lubojacky · 20th January 2012, 12:27 PM

I just would like to add, that in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11889
I described the same spear as from Adamawa (because the seller told me so that time). After then I saw several others, some of them in Kano, and the prevalent opinion of local people was Katsina, Sokoto. Nevertheless, the most important for the assignation would be, I think, link to some old author...

BTW - I have never seen particularly this spear complete in Nigeria - always only very rusty spearheads. I think this complete type of spear, i.e. with the shaft, is rare already. (When the local "antique-vendors" travel to the bush to bring new items for their antique shops in Abuja or Lagos, and they find complete spear, they always break off the spearhead. The reason is they are afraid of the many army check points on the roads and it is possible to hide spearhead better than the whole spear)

thinreadline · 20th January 2012, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

I just would like to add, that in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11889
I described the same spear as from Adamawa (because the seller told me so that time). After then I saw several others, some of them in Kano, and the prevalent opinion of local people was Katsina, Sokoto. Nevertheless, the most important for the assignation would be, I think, link to some old author...

BTW - I have never seen particularly this spear complete in Nigeria - always only very rusty spearheads. I think this complete type of spear, i.e. with the shaft, is rare already. (When the local "antique-vendors" travel to the bush to bring new items for their antique shops in Abuja or Lagos, and they find complete spear, they always break off the spearhead. The reason is they are afraid of the many army check points on the roads and it is possible to hide spearhead better than the whole spear)

Very interesting and helpful Martin

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19th January 2012, 11:29 AM	#2
Iain Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Olomouc Posts: 1,717	Thanks Richmond! Always good to see these details as it helps to develop some sense of how to distinguish between the lances. This is quite different obviously then from the flat and flared butts encountered on Tuareg and in fact most other lances I have seen from the region. Great reference for the future!

20th January 2012, 09:43 AM	#3
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 843	Hello, Finally - after some years of asking re origin of this spear here in Nigeria, the spear should be comming from Katsina, Sokoto, Kano Emirates.

20th January 2012, 12:27 PM	#4
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 843	I just would like to add, that in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11889 I described the same spear as from Adamawa (because the seller told me so that time). After then I saw several others, some of them in Kano, and the prevalent opinion of local people was Katsina, Sokoto. Nevertheless, the most important for the assignation would be, I think, link to some old author... BTW - I have never seen particularly this spear complete in Nigeria - always only very rusty spearheads. I think this complete type of spear, i.e. with the shaft, is rare already. (When the local "antique-vendors" travel to the bush to bring new items for their antique shops in Abuja or Lagos, and they find complete spear, they always break off the spearhead. The reason is they are afraid of the many army check points on the roads and it is possible to hide spearhead better than the whole spear)