Knife or shortsword. The broad leaf-shaped iron blade, with central ridge, curving grooves or fullers and black paint, is tanged into a carved wooden handle inlaid with strips of metal in a lattice pattern. The pommel is cylindrical with a thick carved ring below it. [LM 04/09/2007]

Collection type: Object
Description: Knife or shortsword. The broad leaf-shaped iron blade, with central ridge, curving grooves or fullers and black paint, is tanged into a carved wooden handle inlaid with strips of metal in a lattice pattern. The pommel is cylindrical with a thick carved ring below it. [LM 04/09/2007]
Geographical reference: Congo, Democratic Republic of
Africa > Central Africa > Congo, Democratic Republic of; Kasai River Basin
Cultural groups: Kuba
Person: Field collector Melville William Hilton-Simpson; PRM source Melville William Hilton-Simpson
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1908
Date collected: 1908
Acquisition information: Bequeathed: 1938
Materials and processes: Material Wood Plant, Material Iron Metal, Material Pigment, Process Inlaid, Process Carved, Process Forged (Metal), Process Grooved, Process Painted
Dimensions: Width: max 103 mm, Length: max 340 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1938.16.122
Research and responses: This Kuba knife / shortsword is an Ikul – the ubiquitous knife of all adult men. The sword served as a symbol of adult masculinity for the Kuba. The Kuba are notable for the importance of blacksmithing, and the bearing of weaponry, within their cultural elaboration of the institutions of class, gender, and the Kuba kingship as a whole. Smithing was (alongside weaving and a select few other arts) considered a royal art. There are certain kinds of Ikul (those bearing a conical pommel) which were first designed and created by King Shyaam aMbul aNgoong in the early 17th century (Spring, 1993: 88-9), and carried by those Kuba of the ruling Bushoong clan as a symbol of peaceful reign. This, however, is the more conventional form of Ikul, worn by those men of the other Kuba clans, which has a flat pommel incised with an attractive interlaced design very reminiscent of the weaving to be seen on Kuba mats and the Kuba spear across the gallery. This shortsword exhibits a distinctive feature of a number of Central African blades, which is the Z-shaped section termed ogee by some scholars. The blade often has attractive curved fullers, enhanced by the application of black paint. Research Conducted for DCF Cutting Edge 2006/2007 [AM].
Associated publications: Torday & Joyce p.193 Fig. 278.

Search terms: Weapon, Tool, Ritual and Ceremonial, Knife, Sword