- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- War axe with elaborated forged open-work iron blade decorated with four human heads and a copper covered haft. [SM 09/07/2007]
- Long description
- War axe with elaborated forged open-work iron blade decorated with four human heads and a copper covered haft. The axe blade has two projecting tips at the edges and a convex cutting edge between them. It has four human heads in relief on both surfaces. The blade is also decorated with a punched row of dots on both surfaces. [SM 09/07/2007]
- Geographical reference
- Kasai region
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1912
- Date collected
- By 1912
- Acquisition information
- Purchased: 1912
- Materials and processes
- Material Iron Metal, Material Wood Plant, Material Copper Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Covered, Process Twisted, Process Nailed, Process Bound, Process Punched, Process Hammered
- Dimensions
- Length: max 428 mm, Width: max 268 mm, Weight 1353 g
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1912.68.1 Other numbers: 1912.ß.132
- Associated publications
- Illustrated in colour on contents page and page 198 of Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armour, edited by Richard Holmes et al (Great Britain: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2006). Caption (page 198) reads: 'CONGOLESE AXE This is a ceremonial axe of a kind often carried by chiefs of the Songye people of southeastern Congo. The axe was made by the Nsapo sub-group, who were skilled at working iron and copper. Date: c.1900 Origin: Dem. Rep. of Congo Weight: 1.35KG (3 LB) Length: 42.8cm (16 3/4 IN)' [The accession number is not given]. [ZM 03/07/2008]
1912.68.1
War axe with elaborated forged open-work iron blade decorated with four human heads and a copper covered haft. [SM 09/07/2007]
On display
1912.68.1
Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
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