Sword-sticks

[helen]

Swordsticks from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford for those who may be interested...

Clockwise from top left (based on information given at time of acquisition):

English, early C19th? Wooden hilt/sheath, covered in substance (?plaster) then painted black. Acquired 1927.

English, collected before 1845. Bamboo with brass ferrule and antler pommel in form of a shell. Acquired 1927.

Okavango River, Andara, Namibia. Africa. Native sword-stick of the Mampukush people [Mbukushu]. Acquired 1931.

Peshawar, Pakistan. Sword-stick sheathing two blades: a short-edged dagger and pointed, diamond-section rapier blade. Locally known as 'Gupti'. Inscription in Hindi on tube reads 'Madhu-sudan' (destroyer of the demon Madhu, an epithet of Vishnu or Krishna).

[Mervyn Mitton]

Helen - there are some rare and valuable ones here. Will start with the one top left.

The small end grip is either ivory or, bone. The fittings look to be brass. I would like to see a close-up of the sheath - you say plaster covering, however, I think it is more probable to be either a fish skin (ray?) or, a tree bark. Whatever the covering , it's purpose is to stop an enemy grabbing to pull out of your grip. The second one is very similar to my own ( see under swords) and will date to the early part of the 19th. C. The grip ia Scottish staghorn and the joint part has been carved as a shell. The purose of the cord is to wrap it around your wrist - and again, stop someone pulling it from you.

The Namibian one is a typical style for most of Southern Africa - and it is, of course, a dagger stick. To make the long aperture for a sword blade is difficult and requires special machinery. The shaped head is based on a knobkerry - or, fighting stick.

The Pakistani one is probably 20th.C. and is a very neat design - the curved grip was either to sit on - like a 'shooting stick' or, was intended to brace on the arm or shoulder. Very neat how the ferrule takes out to make a small dagger for the left hand.

Any more ?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Fantastic pieces, and great to see them unsheathed.

I was at a museum not so long ago, had some great swords... all in their sheathes :-((((((((

Which idiot has a centuries old Japanese sword on display, then hides the blade in its sheath?????????????

Well done!! lets see more!

[helen]

[Mervyn,

thank you for your insightful comments. These are the only named 'sword-sticks' we have although we have other items listed as combination weapons (i.e. axe and concealed dagger/mace and concealed dagger and gun. I will try to find pictures for you if you are interested. Unfortunately not everything in the museum has photographs - we have nearly 300,000 objects and photographing them all is a big task!

As for the first sword-stick, yes, when I first saw it, I assumed the material was shagreen, like that on Japanese hilts. But closer inspection reveals that it is a red, bumpy, brittle shell-like substance that's been painted black - presumably to resemble ray skin. That's what prompted someone to suggest plaster but it is just a guess. This particular object is packed away in store so we would need to get it out to re-examine it.

Helen

P.S a query related to the Namibian one...as you say, boring out an aperture for a full-length blade would be hard to do manually. Are there no naturally occurring hollow trees in that part of Africa, like bamboo elsewhere in the world, that could be used for such purposes? What type of wood were native spear and club shafts made of? We have many, many of these but the documentation rarely expands on the materials used beyond 'hardwood'. Thanks.

[helen]

[Mervyn Mitton]

We have many hardwoods in Sthn. Africa - one of the most popular for knobkerries is Ironwood, as it is so hard and doesn't break. A knobkerry is one of the most dangerous and common weapons here and Zulus learn stick fighting from as young as 5 !

Which Museum are you ? I used to have quite a lot to do, years ago, with the Ashmolean - they helped me with research on truncheons and tipstaffs.

Museums do some funny things at times - Chris' point about showing sheathed swords, is a valid one - but from the staff point of view it keeps them clean !!

[ksg]

Interesting sticks! Thanks for sharing!

The dagger somehow reminds me about a Scottish Dirk.... Coincident ?

Kjell

[Mervyn Mitton]

I think we will find that it is the actual bark of the tree it was cut from. Still intended to have the same purpose - stopping it being pulled from you. The top is obviously wood , now that it is closer. When you have time it will be great to see more items in the collection.

Mervyn

[helen]

Mervyn,

Pitt Rivers Museum, just down the road from the Ashmolean and part of the same group of Oxford University Museums.

We have a considerable weaponry collection due to the career and interests of our founder, General Pitt Rivers. After service in the army he was commissioned to research rifle technology to inform new developments in firearms. Hence we have his large firearm collection - examples dating from the C15th to the C19th with some rare experimental models - as well as plenty of historical arms and armour, which he accumulated principally to illustrate his contemporary scientific views about evolutionism in human societies.

We're currently working on revamping our weapons gallery with a view to reopening it in 2010. We also hope to add more info to the website so I hope you will find that of interest. See our Arms and Armour Virtual Gallery to see what we've added so far: PRM Arms and Armour Virtual Gallery

Helen

[Mervyn Mitton]

Dear Helen

Your site for the museum is interesting - not too many Zulu items - which is surprising as they are the pre-eminent fighting tribe in Africa. I was interested in the Police truncheon - the Bread Riots were very widespread. I am not sure that the assegais shown are Zulu - would it be possible to see a close-up of the head ? I see you have blow pipes - that is one type where the locals have learned to make a long hole through a length of wood. They do it by sitting on a tree branch with the wood between their legs - they have a number of metal rods of the diameter required and then heat them red hot in a fire. Helpers keep passing up fresh rods and gradually they burn through the wood to make a suitable pipe. Because they come under the definition of a firearm, having a 'barrel capable of firing a projectile' they can be classed as a firearm under the Act. My cousin was the official doctor to the Royal Geographic expedition to Borneo and brought me one back. They made her sit on the tarmac and scrape the poison off the darts before she could board the RAF plane that carried them !!

I do hope you will stay a member - you have lots of interestings things to share !!

Mervyn

[helen]

Mervyn,

thanks for the detail about how the blowpipes were made! Unfortunately we don't have any African examples. We do have more Zulu material (over 100 weapons), but only a small percentage on display, and even less on the website. We're endeavouring to make more of it publicly accessible. For example we have two knobkerries that were given to the donor by Cetewayo himself (apparently!). I will double-check the documentation we have on the assegais but I doubt we have a better photograph. I can check though. Glad you found the website of some interest and I will continue to post relevant parts of our collection on GMIC as we are always coming across things which we'd like to know more about and I've been impressed and enlightened by the vast swathes of knowledge and experience the members, such as yourself, bring to the forums to help novices like me!

Helen

[Mervyn Mitton]

I don't think anyone acknowledged KSQ's post of the dirk. It was a good point. The actual dirk he showed is fairly modern - probably to be worn by a piper in a Highland band. With the new knife blade regulatione in the UK - max. is 4inches (10cm) - it is causing problems for all of these types of dress.

[Brian Wolfe]

Fantastic pieces, and great to see them unsheathed.

I was at a museum not so long ago, had some great swords... all in their sheathes :-((((((((

Which idiot has a centuries old Japanese sword on display, then hides the blade in its sheath?????????????

Well done!! lets see more!

Hi Chris,

Most serious collectors of Japanese swords keep them in their sheath and display them that way. Musuems tend to display them out of the sheath for the benifit of the public as most people are impressed with the blade but the displays are usually in a climate controled display case. The sheath provides this protection, to a degree.

Regards

Brian

[peter monahan]

Helen and Mervyn

Lovely pieces undeed! However, I have to disagree with the description of #3 as 'shooting stick' type handle. First, it looks to be far too small for any normal human buttocks - to me at least, scale being a bit tricky. Second, the style, especially the asymmetric shape, is very reminiscent of some South Asian blades, the Malayan 'kris' for one. Might it have been collected there for or by the General?

Interesting side note, BTW, in an age when weapons are less and less acceptable in private hands: a friend who works in the film and televison business has a sword stick in his shop, one he made, and tells me that Canadian law has recently changed to make their possession legal, though of course carrying one is still a crime.

Until recently any conealed blades were classed as "prohibited weapons" here, much like fully automatic guns. That is, there was no licence or legal way to own one, with a tiny number of exceptions most of which involved the authorities simply ignoring them if they were judges to be in safe hands and for a good reason (museum displays, for e.g.) I recall, in fact, getting off a Dutch charter years ago at Toronto Airport behind a chap who'd brought one back from Europe somewhere and watching the Customs chap snap the blade right off at the hilt, give the handle back to the owner and tell him he should consider himself lucky not to be charged!

Edited May 9, 2009 by peter monahan

[Chris Boonzaier]

I assume wooden swordstick sheathes are made in the same way blowpipes are?

Best

Chris

[Mervyn Mitton]

Peter - I think - on reflection that you are quite correct to say - not for sitting on. Decorative, perhaps - but probably for bracing on the shoulder.

Modern swordsticks - and by that I mean would mean going back as far as the 18th. C. would have had an attachment on a hand lathe to bore the hole.

[helen]

Peter - thanks for your comment: I agree, that would have to be a rather small bottom! The shape is rather odd although not anything to do with the kris/keris I shouldn't think, which, by and large has a pistol grip in all its forms, whether the blade be straight or wavy. It doesn't really bear any resemblance to families of daggers and blades from either Africa or Asia. It was collected in 1931, long after the general's death, and I cannot help but wonder if it isn't a native weapon at all but instead evidence of the German colonial presence in Namibia at this time. This would help explain the European 'shooting-stick' style shape of the handle.

[helen]

As for the policy of displaying things in and out of sheaths, every museum is different. As Brian said, all cases are environmentally controlled for internal UV and humidity levels but ultimately, we tend to simply display whatever's the most interesting; if the light is such that you cannot make out the hamon on a Japanese sword, then it may be displayed sheathed. If it happens to be a very old blade, in newer furniture, we'll display them separately - especially to show the often staggering difference in condition between a C14th Japanese blade and a European one of the same age! The Conservation department would prefer all blades to be sheathed but sometimes this is not possible because with the passage of time, the organic materials used to make the sheath/scabbard have hardened or swollen (i.e. wood/leather) and the blade no longer fits inside! With Japanese swords especially though, the one thing we do make sure we do, is to display the blades the traditional way - horizontally with the blade facing the ceiling.

[helen]

Mervyn, as a side note, I see from your experience and interests that you might wish to see more of any police material. I'm not sure off-hand what we have, save more in the 'truncheon' department, but I will post anything I find in the museum's depths!

[Mervyn Mitton]

Helen, may I be your assistant - I love museum basements?? When I was at boarding school, at Geelong in Victoria,Aust.,I ran the school museum. I approached the curator at the Melbourne museum and thay used to let me spend an afternoon in the basement, going through all the old weaponry. I would put a hundred ,or so, together and my Father would collect them and bring them to school. Used to make great exhibitions, the only time we had any numbers. I did meet Field Marshall Lord Slim, and his wife, when they were brought around. A great honour as I deeply admired him - in my humble opinion he was the best commander in WW2. (just as well no-one is reading this,I'd be in real trouble.)

[helen]

lol, I would have enjoyed it at your school Melvyn! If only things were that straight forward nowadays...there's a lot of red tape surrounding the carting of weapons around between our store (the other side of Oxford) and the Museum. But I suppose it's all for the best in the end, especially regarding security. Back in the late 60s some chap came in on a 'research' visit to study an early revolver. He'd been in several times prior to this, making drawings of the gun in its display case, and had evidently sent the specifics off to Hong Kong to have a replica made. When he came in for the research visit and was left alone with the weapon for a few minutes, he did a swap. The imposter weapon went back on display and went unnoticed as such for a little while! The real one was eventually recovered by the police and now we are planning to display both the original and the replica together!

Edited May 15, 2009 by helen

[helen]

Kjell,

yes, interesting point about the similarity. Here's a Scots dirk we have (though nowhere near as nice as yours!)

Helen

[Mervyn Mitton]

Helen - this dirk looks quite old, I like the way the grip has been cut into a shape around the top of the blade.

Your story re. the fake gun seems almost beyond 'cheek'. However, we had an even worse one in Sth.Africa. Two dealers bought an old van and fitted it out with lathes etc.. They then toured all the countries in this part of the World - asking local curators if they could take items out to the van to take photos and measurements. They then quickly 'turned' replacements, which they took back to the museum - and then drove off with items worth thousands!! The mind boggles..