Darfur Arm Sword 395 — The Mansfield Collection

A Very Fine & Rare Darfur Arm Sword

A Very Fine & Rare Darfur Arm Short Sword
Fur
Sultanate of Darfur (Darfur - Kordofan, Sudan)
Late 19th century (ca. 1870 - 1890)
Steel, rhinoceros horn, crocodile skin, leather
Blade: 43,8cm
Hilt & Blade: 59,1cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 59,1cm
Collection Date: 2021
Collection Number: 395

Deaccessioned from Valentine Museum, Richmond, Virginia, USA (1898 - 2021)
Formerly the Wickham House, original collection of Valentine S. Mann II (Prior to 1898).

A rare type of Sudanese arm sword associated with the Darfur and Kordofan region of Sudan. The steel blade is double- edged with a medial ridge that tapers to a point. A pair of shallow outside fullers follow near the chamfered edges. Decorated in fine incised cross- hatched linear and triangular geometric engravings. The blade has a blackening to it, which may ahve served as a protective coating from its time at the museum.

The hilt is carved from rhinoceros horn in the shape of a crescent, ending with a spiked pommel. Coloration of a light brown with fibrous structure. The sheath is tooled leather and crocodile skin, with a solid leather arm band attached. The last 9cm of the sheath is missing.

This piece was deaccessioned from the Valentine Museum in 2021. It had been in their possession since the museum's founding in 1898. The museum was founded by meat juice entrepreneur Valentine S. Mann in 1898, which had been originally the Wickham House, Mann's personal home with his private art and cultural collection. This sword was one of his personal items from the Wickman House, before the Museum's establishment placing it in his possession prior to 1898.

Most examples collected tend to be from the late 19th century, specifically the 1870s through the 1880s. Very similar pieces can be seen in Dr. Wilhelm Junker's Travels in Africa 1875 - 1886, atrributed to Darfur. (Photo 10). A scarce Darfur sword in great condition with no nicks, chips, breaks, or holes, with only minimal damage to the sheath.

[1] Dr. Wilhelm Junker: Dr. W. Junker's Travels in Africa 1875 - 1886; Bd.1, S.557 - from Darfur

[2] W. O. Oldman. “Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnographic Specimens”. List No. 74; Item #17 (17662)

[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1954-23-2500

[4] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af-2674-a-b

[5] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/263090

[6] https://www.quaibranly.fr/en/explore-collections/base/Work/action/show/notice/367632-epee/page/1/367632-epee

[7] https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-99519

[8] https://oriental-arms.com/product/fine-and-rare-long-dagger-from-south-sudan-r-horn-hilt/

[9] http://oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=2214

[10] http://oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=8494

[11] http://oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=8786

[12] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?darfur-dagger