WEST AFRICAN MANDING SWORD CA.1800s

This interesting Manding broadsword is mounted with a 84 cm long, 4.5 cm wide Solingen-made blade with three narrow fullers starting at the ricasso and running past the forte. Sword is almost 1 meter long overall. The hilt is wrapped in oiled cloth. Scabbard is wood, covered with three sections of tooled raw-hide and two sections of vellum. Sword dates to the late 19th-early 20th c. Manding swords of this vintage are quite uncommon. Most of the examples encountered on today's market date from the later part of the 20th c., making this sword a desirable piece for a collector of ethnographic weapons.