So ... going back to the B.M. online database and searching for "sword Liberia" it turns out they do have a similar one to this. But it has an old label giving the provenance as Calabar (which is in modern-day Nigeria). Presumably, it was later catalogued as being from Liberia because of the photograph of King Fla and his bodyguard.
I wonder if these were widely traded in West Africa, ending up in Liberia, Nigeria, Gabon, Ivory Coast. If that is so, then where were they made? Does the shape of the hilt indicate a possible place of origin ?
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