1945.9.73.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Knife [.1] with curved blade and flared wooden hilt bound with copper alloy wire, in a decorated hide sheath [.2] with belt. [SM 20/06/2007]

Long description

Knife [.1] with curved blade and flared wooden hilt bound with copper alloy wire, in a decorated hide sheath [.2] with belt. The blade is is made of iron or steel. It is two edged and has two fullers running down the centre on both surfaces. The hilt flares slightly toward the blade and has a very flared butt. The grip is bound with straight and plaited copper alloy wire. The butt has a silver cap over it that is decorated with a raised pattern. The cap is nailed onto the butt. The sheath is made of hide and is lined with two pieces of wood. The hide is stitched together down the back. Attached to the back are two pieces of leather which are stitched together along both sides and at the top. There is a hole in the top panel towards the bottom. The sheath is decorated with copper alloy wire loops at the mouth and copper alloy wire is bound around the tip. The silver chape mentioned in the accession book entry is missing. The belt is attached to the front of the sheath and is bound around the sheath. It has a brass buckle and several perforations along its length to join the two ends together. [SM 20/06/2007]

Geographical reference

Djibouti

Africa > Eastern Africa > Djibouti

Tadjoura

Cultural groups

Afar

Person

Field collector Wilfred Patrick Thesiger

PRM source Wilfred Patrick Thesiger

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1934-1935

Date collected

1934 -1935

Acquisition information

Donated: 1945

Materials and processes

Material Animal Hide Skin, Material Wood Plant, Material Metal Wire, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Material Silver Metal, Material Iron Metal, Material Steel Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Carved, Process Bound, Process Stitched, Process Nailed, Process Cast

Dimensions

Width: max 74 mm sheath, Width: max 84 mm dagger, Length: max 480 mm dagger, Length: max 390 mm sheath

Object numbers

Accession number: 1945.9.73.1 Accession number: 1945.9.73.2

Research and responses

For a brief account of the collections donated to the PRM by Wilfred Thiesiger, see 'An Incidental Collection: Objects Donated by Wilfred Thesiger to the Pitt Rivers Museum', by Jeremy Coote, in Wilfred Thesiger in Africa, edited by Christopher Morton and Philip N. Grover (London: Harper Press, 2010), pp. 116-26. [JC 21 12 2010]

Search terms: Weapon, Status, Tool, Knife, Sheath, Dagger, Status Object