Knife with curved, two edged iron blade and a cylindrical wooden handle [RTS 14/4/2004].

Collection type: Object
Description: Knife with curved, two edged iron blade and a cylindrical wooden handle [RTS 14/4/2004].
Long description: Knife consisting of a short cylindrical wooden handle, oval in section, with a flat end. The handle end has been polished, and the top may have been stained black. The other end of this is cut flat, and has a smaller cylindrical body continuing for another 90 mm; this then flares out to form a slightly convex shoulder with sides concave above, with a flatter, more oval section. Above this point, the handle connects with the blade tang. The exact method of attachment is not clear, as this is obscured by the handle binding, but it is assumed that the tang has been inserted through the centre of the handle, and then its rectangular end hammered over at the top to fix it in place. This is end is visible where it emerges through the handle top, and is off centre. The narrower parts of the handle have been decorated with brass and iron strips. These begin just below the handle knob, with two narrow strips of polished brass that have their ends hammered into slots in the wood to secure them. Below this is a short section of thin, twisted iron wire, then two more brass strips that extend over the shoulder and up to the area where the blade becomes visible. Plant fibre padding is present at the end of handle, and the last section of brass binding has been partially bound with a strip of woven red cloth, with several cotton stitches around the surface. The blade tang is visible from this point. Tang and blade are made from a single piece of iron, on which hammering marks are visible in places. The tang has slightly faceted, flat surfaces; the metal was then given a double twist just above the blade itself. This is curved, with a broad flat ridge running along the length on both sides. This is not centred. On one side of the ridge, the blade extends to form a broad, sharpened base edge with a pointed corner; a more narrow blade extends from the other side of this, slightly higher up the knife. The sides then begin to taper in towards the point at the other end. Both edges have been sharpened. Three circular holes have been cut into the base of the blade on one side, arranged in a vertical line. The blade has also been decorated with a series of lightly incised designs. These consist of four rows of crosshatched triangles on the short tang; simple hatching across the raised parts of the twisted body below; then three to two rows of crosshatched triangles that continue along the length of the flat ridge. These designs are found on both sides of the blade. The object is complete, with some minor cut marks on the blade and handle. The iron is currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone 422C); the brass a metallic yellow (Pantone 871C), the cloth a matt red (Pantone 492C) and the handle mid brown (Pantone 1545C). The knife is 465 mm in length; the handle knob measures 53.8 by 49.4 mm, and the remaining handle section 24.8 by 23 mm; the tang measures 20 by 7.2 mm, while the maximum width of the blade is 85.5 mm, its thickness is 5.5 mm at the centre, and 1 mm at its cutting edge. The knife weighs 550.2 grams [RTS 14/4/2004].
Geographical reference: South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan; Northern Bahr el Ghazal Western Bahr el Ghazal Warab Lakes Western Equatoria
Cultural groups: Zande
Person: Field collector Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson; PRM source Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1917
Date collected: By 1917
Acquisition information: Donated: 1917
Materials and processes: Material Iron Metal, Material Brass Metal, Material Wood Plant, Material Plant Fibre, Material Textile, Process Hammered, Process Bound, Process Carved, Process Incised, Process Woven
Dimensions: Diameter: max 53.8 mm handle, Width: max 85.5 mm blade, Thick: max 5.5 mm blade, Length: max 465 mm, Weight 550.2 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1917.25.27
Research and responses: This object was probably collected in the period immediately before World War I (1909-1913, or 1910-1914?, according to Gayer-Anderson's biographical history).
It is assumed here that 'Bahr el Ghazal' refers to the province, rather than to the river. At the time this object was collected, the Bahr el Ghazal province was much larger than it is today, extending from roughly the Bahr el Arab all the way to the border with the Belgian Congo; this area is now divided into the districts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Warab, El Buheyrat and Western Equatoria [RTS 10/11/2003].
Although called a throwing knife in the accession book entry, this type of object is more properly called a knife, and could be used as both a weapon and a tool. It is sometimes referred to in the literature as a 'sickle knife', due to the curved shape of the blade; similar examples are known amongst the Mangbetu, and it is possible that the Zande borrowed the type from them (see for example M. Felix, 1991, Kipinga, fig. 95; he calls this type of object a 'power emblem']. For similar knives, see 1904.59.22, and also E. Castelli, 1984, Orazio Antinori in Africa Centrale 1859-1861, cat. no. 111, attributed to the Mangbetu or Zande (Museum of Perugia 19469) [RTS 5/11/2004]. [RTS 14/4/2004].
In May 2015 a digital photograph of this object was supplied to Ellen Lekka (Culture Specialist / UNESCO Juba – South Sudan) for use in 'South Sudan Travelling Exhibition: Pilot Phase', a project being carried out by UNESCO Juba in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of South Sudan, as part of the establishment of a public culture sector through the development of key institutions and as a step towards the creation of a National Museum. [JC 22 5 2014]
Associated publications: Illustrated in colour as figure d on page 56 of A Shared Struggle: The People & Cultures of South Sudan, edited by Tim McKulka (no place [Juba]: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, 2013). Caption (same page): 'Azande iron throwing knife'. [JC 28 2 2014]

Search terms: Weapon, Tool, Knife