Object Details
- Label Text
- High quality iron blades and imported goods such as the brass tacks are the signs of high status objects that are more regalia than weapon. The same appreciation for technical skill and a reverence for the ideal of the warrior that made this type of weapon important to the local Africans also impressed the early European collector. This particular long knife has a paper tag indicating a 1906 French collector.
- Description
- Flared iron blade with a convex curved end, mid rib. The knife has a disk shaped pommel with brass upholstry tacks on the edge and a line of five in the center. The lower portion of the hilt is covered in sheet metal.
- Provenance
- A. Fredon, collected Djoundou, Lower Oubangi, French Congo, 1906
- Glen Rhodes, McLean, Virginia, -- to 2002
- Published References
- Hurst, Norman. 1997. Ngola: The Weapon as Authority, Identity, and Ritual Object in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge: Hurst Gallery, inside cover.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Ekonda artist
- Date
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. Glen Rhodes
- Medium
- Iron, brass, wood
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 48.3 x 3.7 x 10 cm (19 x 1 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
