Axe with socketed iron blade, wooden handle and a brass 12 gauge cartridge reused as a ferrule on the end [RTS 29/6/2004].

Collection type: Object
Description: Axe with socketed iron blade, wooden handle and a brass 12 gauge cartridge reused as a ferrule on the end [RTS 29/6/2004].
Long description: Axe consisting of a round sectioned wooden handle carved from a single piece of yellowish brown wood with polished surface (Pantone 729C). A small, narrow socketed axe blade has been fitted onto the top of the shaft. This has been shaped from a single flat ended piece of iron with a rectangular section (Pantone 877C). The body has been split 20 mm from this point to form an oval socket; the blade then tapers out slightly to form a curved cutting edge at the other end that is bevelled on both sides. A short rectangular sectioned piece of iron has been forced into the gap between socket and wood to make the axehead fit snugly. The tops of five similar pieces are visible at the top of the handle, where they appear to have been hammered down vertically into the wood. At the base of the handle, a rectangular strip of iron has been wound around the circumference with its ends overlapping. A short brass cartridge (Pantone 871C) has been force fitted over the handle on top of this - suggesting that the iron strip was used to enable a tighter fit. The cartridge has a cylindrical body, the lower part of which has become compressed slightly, and a flat, slightly everted end with a hole at the centre, through which the wood of the handle is visible. This flat end bears an incised inscription arranged in two curved lines around the hole: "12 F.N. 12 [top line] BELGIUM HERSTAL [bottom line]", representing the manufacturer's name (FN Herstal, of Belgium) and the cartridge gauge (12). The object is complete, but has some damage; there is a flaw in the iron near the cutting edge of the axehead, and the handle has several splits running along its length, while the shape of the cartridge has been slightly distorted in the process of hammering it into place over the handle end. The axe handle has a length of 722 mm, a width of 20.3 mm and a thickness of 19.2 mm; the axehead is 135 mm long and 35 mm wide at the cutting edge; it is 5 mm thick at the opposite, blunt end. The brass ferrule has a diameter of 22.3 mm; the central hole is 6 mm wide. The axe has a total weight of 339.4 grams [RTS 29/6/2004].
Geographical reference: South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan; Bahr el Jebel Peridi
Cultural groups: Bari (Nilotic)
Person: Field collector Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton; Field collector Hannah Powell-Cotton; PRM source Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1933
Date collected: 9th February 1933
Acquisition information: Donated: 1934
Materials and processes: Material Wood Plant, Material Iron Metal, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Material Brass Metal, Process Carved, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Recycled
Dimensions: Length 135 mm axehead, Width 35 mm axehead, Diameter 20.3 mm handle, Length 135 mm, Weight 339.4 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1934.8.39 Other numbers: 221
Research and responses: While the location of Peridi has to be established, both Mongalla and Ngangala are in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebel, Southern Sudan. The coordinates given by Powell-Cotton suggest Peridi lies west of Mongalla [RTS 10/10/2003].
Although the object seems to bear the faint marking '2217', this corresponds with item '221' on Powell-Cotton's list of objects, and had a label with '221' tied to the object [RTS 29/6/2004].
FN Herstal is the name of a small arms manufacturing company based in Liege, Belgium. The cartridge was probably from a shotgun, rather than military issue [RTS 29/6/2004].

Search terms: Tool, Weapon, Axe