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African traditional forms

Tuesday 14 February 2023, 04:30 PM • Milan

25

MBOLE, LOKELE , Congo Kinshasa, basso corso del Lomami

Ceremonial knife

Estimate

€ 600 - 750

Sold

€ 1.088

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

cm 52 cm; 4 kg
forged iron double shear shaped blade engraved on both sides. Residual surface oxide.
Handle wrapped with a spiral of drawn copper embellished with a distinctive forged iron prism forming the head. Period patina.
Type of knife used by the various groups settled in the Lomami River region. It could be placed in a leather sheath. The Topoke also used it as a currency of exchange. The polygonal iron prism can weigh over 6 kg.

Literature

FISHER W. & ZIRNGIBL M.A. “Afrikanische Waffen”, Passau 1978, pagina 121, figg. 210 - 212 (202);
ELSEN JAN & AUTORI VARI, Beauté Fatale: Armes d’Afrique Centrale, Crédit Communal, Bruxelles 1992, pag.101, fig. 114 (Collezione Pier Giorgio Cerrini) (292);
ELSEN JAN “Fatal Beauty: Traditional weapons from Central Africa” Bruxelles 2009, pag. 246 - 247 (643);