Zulu wire wrapped Knobkerrie

[colin henshaw]

Hi David

Nice piece. Knobkerries and wire plaiting were used by many different tribal groups throughout southern Africa. I have a feeling yours could in fact be Shona (Zimbabwe), who seemed particularly fond of a lot of brass wirework. They employed this technique on many types of objects - axes, spears, clubs, daggers, flywhisks etc even whistles...

I'm not sure if such wirework signified status particularly, maybe just wealth as brass wire was a luxury commodity. Copper and iron wire was also used.

However, I have read that in the 19th century Zulu kings would award brass necklaces and gauntlets to favoured individuals.

Two good reference books are - "The Traditional African Art of Zimbabwe" by H Ellert and "Zulu Treasures" by KwaZulu Cultural Museum.

Regards

[katana]

Hi Colin,
thanks for your informative post . Nearly every knobkerrie, spear and axe with the same wirework seems to be labelled 'Zulu' ....making ID'ing this difficult.
Shaka introduced the Tribute System...

"The Tribute System

He force other tribes to pay him tributes in exchange for protection. The tributes were gifts. They included cattle, furs, feathers, and carved wooden sculptures. He took control of all the precious metals. At this time they were copper and brass. The metal was used to make wooden clubs stronger. It was also used for ornaments, like neck rings and armbands. The more of these you had, the greater your importance in the tribe......."

This could suggest that some of the neighbouring tribes may have presented wire wrapped weapons as tribute payment. Interesting that the 'precious metals' for the Zulu were brass and copper (no mention of bronze ? ) I also hadn't considered the improvement in the strength of the knobkerrie with the wire covering, functional and a sign of status at the same time.

Kind Regards David

[thinreadline]

Here is another example of a heavily wire decorated weapon from the same part of the world, in this case a spear .