A Very Fine Sudanese Silver Arm Dagger
A Very Fine Sudanese Silver Arm Dagger
Fur / Nuba
Likely Khartoum or Omdurman, Mahdist Sudan - Anglo Egyptian Sudan (Sudan)
Dated Hijiri 1312 (?) or 1316 (?) = 1894 or 1899 Gregorian
Engraved "Belongs to Daud"
Steel, African black wood, silver alloy, crocodile skin, leather
Blade: 23,5cm
Hilt & Blade: 36,8cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 38,1cm
Collection Date: 2022
Collcetion Number: 303
Ex. Oriental Arms: Haifa, Israel (2022) (https://oriental-arms.com/product/exceptionally-good-arm-dagger-from-east-africa/)
Ex. Sworder Fine Art: Stasted Mountfitchet, UK (2022)
A very fine Sudanese arm dagger of great quality decorated in silver mounts. This style of arm dagger is typical of the twin Nile cities of Khartoum and Omdurman. The steel blade is double- edged with a prominent central fuller. One side of the ricasso is stamped with an eight pointed square often encountered on other arm daggers of the type. On the reverse, engraved and dated, "Belongs to Daud" (Arabic meaning David). The Hijri date is slightly obscure, either 1312 or 1316, which translates to 1894 or 1899 in the Gregorian calander. Similar daggers date to 1899 through 1901 after the defeat of the khalifa, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, and his Mahdist forces.
The hilt is carved from African black wood, bound with fine silver wire, filigree worked silver bands, silver russets, and pommel disc. A silver cap at the end of the pommel is shaped in the manner of a Mahdist commander's conical helmet. The sheath is tooled red leather and crocodile skin with twisted bound leather strips for the arm loop. An exceptional example of the type.