Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


151 - African Congo Azande Tribe Spear, late 19th Century

Lew attributed this spear to the Azande Tribe of the African Congo and dated it circa 1890. The 14 inch (35.5 cm) long tapering blade has symmetrical bulbous widening at its base and a set of narrow fullers on one slightly concave side with mild convexity opposite. The socket is covered by tightly wrapped twine. The dark wooden shaft is wrapped with spirally wound dark iron straps with longer segments at either end and several short segments alternating with exposed wood in between. The wrapping towards the spike butt is slightly loss and irregular. A nice detail of the spike butt is that the round socket transitions into an octagonal cross section and then to a square with rounded edges. Lew's notes declared this as a 'museum quality' example. Overall length is 66½ inches (69.2 cm) with a weight of just over 26 ounces (758 grams).




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