1884.34.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Knife with decoratively grooved and perforated two edged blade and small wooden handle bound with string. [SM 25/10/2007]

Long description

Knife consisting of a short, dark brown, polished wooden handle with strongly concave sides (Pantone 440C), and a handle guard of similar width to the end; the handle is lentoid in section throughout. A piece of yellowish brown plant fibre string (Pantone 465C) has been bound around the handle just below the guard to form a grip, with the ends tucked underneath. This has a very greasy surface. The end of the handle guard has a long rectangular slot cut into it to receive the blade tang. This extends through the body of the handle, and out through the other end, where it has been hammered over back into the wood to secure it. On one side of this, two smaller metal tabs protrude from the wood, one of which has also been hammered over. There is a split in the wood on the other side, where another tab may once have existed. The hafting has not been entirely successful, as the handle is split down the centre of one side, and one arm of the guard has broken away. Above the handle, the iron blade is in better condition, currently a silver gray colour (Pantone 422C), and consists of a long, slightly convex sided rectangular tang, turning into the concave sided shoulders of the blade itself, which is broadest at the shoulders, then tapers to a sharp point at the other end. The blade has an ogee-shaped section, with the upper and lower concave surfaces covered with a series of incised grooves that follow the shape of the cutting edges on each side. These edges have been bevelled on the undecorated faces. The rectangular sectioned tang has similar grooving covering half the upper and half the lower surface - in each case, the side opposite the blade grooving. The blade is pierced by two groups of two holes, one just above the shoulder, and the other set on the opposite side, closer to the point. Total length of object 489 mm, length of handle 83.7 mm, width of handle end 38.8 mm, thickness of handle 13.9 mm, width of tang 32 mm, width of blade at shoulders 83.6 mm, maximum thickness of blade 1.7 mm, and thickness of blade at cutting edge 0.1 mm [RTS 19/3/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Zande

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector John Petherick

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Possibly before 1858

Date collected

1858

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Material Iron Metal, Material Plant Fibre, Material String, Process Forged (Metal), Process Grooved, Process Carved, Process Perforated, Process Bound

Dimensions

Length: max 489 mm, Width: max 38.8 mm handle, Depth 13.9 mm handle, Width: max 83.6 mm blade

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.34.1

Research and responses

Petherick lived in Khartoum from 1853-1858, mounting several trading expeditions into the Sudanese interior during this period. He entered Zande territory for the first time on 24th February 1858, while on his fifth such expedition, visiting the villages of Mundo, Kangamboo and Baranj. This object was probably collected during this trip, as Petherick did not venture into this region again. This would seem to be confirmed by the appearance of this knife in Petherick's sketchbook, which seems to have been compiled by 1861 (Wellcome library MS 5789, p. 14, although under the erroneous general caption of 'Dor'). His collection was shipped back to England in 1859 [RTS 11/10/2004].

Search terms: Weapon, Tool, Knife, Dagger, Sword