Fine Art, Arms and Armor, March 15th 2025, 10:00 AM Central Time

Good 19th C. African Sudanese KASKARA Sword

The auction will start in __ days and __ hours

Start price: $150

Estimated price: $300 - $500

Buyer's premium:

This sword is characteristic of the swords of Sudan, Darfur, Kanem-Bornu (Chad) and Nubia and is known as a kaskara. The term kaskara is a recent name and is unknown in the Sudan, where these swords are termed simply saif. The kaskara is a broadsword, with a long straight blade with a central grove with two cutting edges. The cruciform hilt has a straight cross guard with two languets. The quillons are often flared and usually are long, straight and end in a T-shaped form. The crossguard center has upper and lower languets. The wooden grip is usually wrapped with leather bands and ends with a disc shaped pommel such as this example. These swords are usually one yard in length though sometimes there are shorter examples such as this one. There are some regional differences in the types of kaskara especially with respect to the form of the cross guard and this particularly crossguard of iron is more specific to there gion around Dongola to the north. This example in the Schmiedt Collection is a rather simple style likely attributed to the examples used by the Beja and Hadendoa of south east Sudan. The scabbards are frequently made of molded leather such as this example and have a characteristic bulgeat the tip, called a bouterolle. See to the right an image of a Beja warrior holding a similar kaskara, though of longer dimensions .

Total length (inside scabbard if present): 36 1/2", Blade length: 31 3/4".~~.

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