Oman, Morocco or Zanzibar?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by blue lander

Thank you Jim and Ibrahiim for providing context on that sword. I ended up not bidding on that one because I thought the fullers looked uneven. I assumed it was some indiginous imitation of a European blade. The seller had another sword that looks to be from the same source. It bears no resemblance to a nimcha, but I'm posting it here in case it sheds some light on their common origin.

While this one (post #82) seems to have the same simplistic munitions gestalt, the shape of the hilt is of course quite different from the familiar hand nocked hilt of the 'nimcha' group, which at this point in discussion includes those of the Arabian spheres as well as Spanish colonial.
The shape brings to mind earlier anomalies which reflected certain characteristics of both North African and Philippines/Indonesian influences.
I am attaching one of these with similar European cavalry type blade and a hilt shape vaguely resembling 'Spanish Main' swords we have ben discussing.
The simple guard on the posted example by Blue Lander seems to be of the almost vestigial guards used on Philippines items.

The strong connections trade and colonial between North Africa and Spains colonial sphere there via Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America westward to the Philippines and Indonesian contacts are complex but well established.
We have seen examples of parang from Sumatra with takouba blades and other such anomalous examples


Regarding the ivory and gold nimcha examples in posts #72 and #74 which show Zanzibar for provenance as well supported by other material culture motif, I think it is important to remember that these similarities are purely decorative. These do not apply to the structural and featured elements being considered as designators to Zanzibar attribution of hilt form.

[blue lander]

What do you make of the guard on the sword I posted? It's round like a dha but it seems to have the same thumb "knob" that you'd see on an European cavalry degen.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by blue lander

What do you make of the guard on the sword I posted? It's round like a dha but it seems to have the same thumb "knob" that you'd see on an European cavalry degen.

Sorry, I guess I didn't make my previous post clear. It seems to me this vestigial type guard on this hilt may be from the Philippines, and does not seem in any way North African nor Spanish colonial. That is the reason I mentioned the curious piece which had certain features recalling these 'Berber' type sabres, but only in nuanced sense. The idea I was trying to express is that in these trade networks these kinds of anomalies are of course going to occur, and accurately placing them is pretty unlikely without substantial provenance.