Origin: Tuareg people(Agadez, Niger)

Local name: tarda (in Tamashek)

Dating: 2005

Dimensions:

1) length 106, 2 cm, spearhead width 4.2 cm, diam. 2.3 cm;

2) length 110 cm, spearhead width 4.2 cm, diam. 2.3 cm;

3) length 108.8 cm, spearhead width 4.2 cm, diam. 2.3 cm.

Materials: wood, metal, varnish

Techniques: metalworking

Acquired by: Adam Rybiński, forge, Agadez (Niger), 2005.

Description:

In Europe, the Tuaregs and the Moors “due to the colour of the clothes they wear, as well as the indigo dyeing of the skin from dyeing clothes, are called “the blue people” – Les Hommes Bleus [Rybiński 1999: 41]. Some associate this term with their aristocratic origin. The etiological myth of the Tuaregs says that they come from a princess whose tomb archaeologists found in Algeria. The Tuareg were known primarily as warriors – shepherding in comparison with their belligerence receded into the background. They controlled the trans-Saharan trade, collected fees for using the trails, and did not avoid robberies.

Tard spears were used to hunt gazelles and wild sheep, mainly by slaves who did not own muskets. This kind of spear was a typical hunting weapon of all Tuareg vassals. Spear hunting took place during the hottest time of the day, when animals hide in the shade of rocks and under trees, seeking shelter from the scorching sun and flies. Game can then be stalked very close, and even very skittish wild sheep can be captured this way. Apparently, a skilled hunter, with a bit of luck, could hunt as many as four or five animals in one day [Nicolaisen 1963: 158].

The presented set of three spears was made in 2005 as a gift for A. Rybiński, who asked the blacksmith to make Tuareg spears for him. The traditional tard spear was usually about 180 cm long. The spears in the photo are definitely shorter, they also have a slightly different shape of the spearhead and a shorter shaft than those presented in Nicolaisen's [1963: 158]. For unknown reasons, their maker painted them blue. Traditional spears have the colour of natural materials (wood, iron), similar to allar combat spears [Rybiński 2015: 72]. Perhaps the blacksmith, knowing that he was making them for a European, wanted to emphasize that they were Tuareg spears and used a European stereotype.

Bibliography:

Nicolaisen Johannes, 1963, Ecology and Culture of the Pastoral Tuareg with Particular Reference to the Tuareg of Ahaggar and Ayr, Copenhagen: The National Museum of Copenhagen: The National Museum of Copenhagen.

Rybiński Adam, 1999, Tuaregowie z Sahary, Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Akademickie Dialog.

Rybiński Adam, 2015, Błękitne miraże. Kolekcja tuareska Adama Rybińskiego, Warszawa: Państwowe Muzeum Etnograficzne.

Rybiński Adam, information provided during interviews (2020-2022).

 Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

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The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".