Short Sword For Identification

ariel · 24th December 2020, 12:25 AM

Scabbard decor is purely NW Africa. Brass points to the same areal.
Had it been bronze, Dahomey ( Benin) might have been considered: Benin bronze was and is famous.

But how do we distinguish bronze from brass? It is quite easy if we are dealing with Western manufacture: the compositions would be very different. But go and find any control of zinc and tin content and percentage in African village!That is why we find more and more “ copper alloys” of uncertain origin. They are metallurgical mutts: widely encountered, quite similar in appearance, pleasant to deal with, versatile ( clever in dog’s case), durable ( healthy). Go figure....

In this case I join with the NW African crowd.

Richard G · 24th December 2020, 05:30 PM

Not only Benin, think of Akan gold weights and Bida brassware.
This is obviously lost wax casting, and Nigeria and around would be my guess.
Regards
Richard

24th December 2020, 12:25 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Scabbard decor is purely NW Africa. Brass points to the same areal. Had it been bronze, Dahomey ( Benin) might have been considered: Benin bronze was and is famous. But how do we distinguish bronze from brass? It is quite easy if we are dealing with Western manufacture: the compositions would be very different. But go and find any control of zinc and tin content and percentage in African village!That is why we find more and more “ copper alloys” of uncertain origin. They are metallurgical mutts: widely encountered, quite similar in appearance, pleasant to deal with, versatile ( clever in dog’s case), durable ( healthy). Go figure.... In this case I join with the NW African crowd.

24th December 2020, 05:30 PM	#2
Richard G Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 411	Not only Benin, think of Akan gold weights and Bida brassware. This is obviously lost wax casting, and Nigeria and around would be my guess. Regards Richard