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9th May 2024, 12:39 PM
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#1 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 11
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Makers mark on 19th century 'star and comet' Kaskara blade
Hi All
I was wondering if anyone might be able to identify a mark on the blade of a 19th century ‘star and comet’ kaskara. The mark appears in the photos below just beneath the quillon in these photos and seems to be in the fuller, consisting of vertical incisions with crosshatching, with either a circle or a crescent superimposed. I attach some photos here of the mark The Kaskara itself was recovered by Captain FM Hext of the Royal Irish Fusiliers after the battle of Tamai in 1884. It features the same ‘star and comet” type silver engraved hilt and quillon as the very early kaskara that belonged to Nasir Mohamed, the Funj sultan from AD 1762 to 1769, and that is now in Sudan National. Museum. The single fullered blade is 93cm and total length of the kaskara is 107cm. The blade seems to have seen quite a bit of use, though still retains its sharp edge 140 years later. I will post more photos of the sword and sheath in a reply. Thanks in advance for any feedback 
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9th May 2024, 02:38 PM
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#2 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 400
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Jaxon,
Your kaskara has the famous "enigmatic mark" of unknown origin and meaning. Several Forum posts deal with it, but this one is a summary. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...nigmatic+marks Eager to see the rest of the sword. Best, Ed |
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9th May 2024, 03:15 PM
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#3 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 11
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Hi Ed, thank you so much for the quick reply. The dimensions of the blade are exactly the same as an Austrian blade that you mentioned in another post.
Some more photos of the sword and accompanying sheath and sash... |
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9th May 2024, 03:16 PM
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#4 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 11
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and some more....
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9th May 2024, 06:28 PM
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#5 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 400
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Very nice sword and trophy. To put it in context, the battle was fought against Osman Digna and his Hadendawa warriors. (See Wiki attached). The gap at the top of the silver grip cover originally likely had the signature Hadendawa tassel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...l%20population. Ed |
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10th May 2024, 01:09 PM
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#6 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 11
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Thank you so much Ed. Would you be able to hazard a guess as to the age and origin of the blade?
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10th May 2024, 01:49 PM
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#7 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 400
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During the early-mid 19th C. thousands of mostly German blades were imported into Egypt and rest of N. Africa. Traders brought them into Sudan. I documented some of the traffic into Sudan in one of my kaskara papers available on the Forum's Geographical Index.
Ed |
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10th May 2024, 02:24 PM
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#8 |
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Belgium
Posts: 114
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Indeed a very nice kaskara.
Regards Marc |
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10th May 2024, 04:42 PM
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#9 |
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 11
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Thank you Ed. I have, of course, read all of your excellent Kaskara papers here
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Yesterday, 08:07 PM
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#10 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Posts: 78
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Hello Jaxon,
I do not have any new information on the enigmatic mark but I wanted to congratulate you on this exceptional kaskara sword. Attached are two other war trophies picked up by Francis Marwood Hext from the same battle. Estimates of between 2,000 and 4,000 Mahdists were killed or wounded, most of which were Hadendowa tribesmen. https://www.the-mansfield-collection...-beja-hext-413 https://www.the-mansfield-collection...agger-hext-412 -Geoffrey |
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