Zulu Knobkerrie

RobertGuy · 14th January 2016, 06:18 PM

Helleri
Sorry for late reply, I missed your post. I've taken a couple of pictures, one with flash and one without. Not sure if they will be much help. A member of another forum queried if the wood could be lignum vitae. This is a South American wood so I'm not sure if it could be. However I did do an experiment which showed that my wooden knobkerrie did not float

. So I have some more questions:
1. Is it made of Lignum vitae?
2. Are there similar African hardwoods that do not float?
3. Did Zulus have access to South American wood supplies?
4. Would anybody try to fake a fairly common African item using an uncommon and expensive exotic wood from South America?
5. Its not an African knobkerrie but a rare Inca ceremonial club?

6. It's not made of wood but cleverly painted metal/thermoplastic?

kronckew · 14th January 2016, 08:42 PM

amaZulu knobkerries (iwisa) are normally made from assegai wood (Curtisia dentata), another strong 'iron' wood that is denser than water. it is a member of the dogwood family which europeans used for spear hafts. in SA the boer favoured the wood for wagon wheel spokes. zulu also preferred it for iklwa hafts. they would use the area where the heart and sap woods would meet, like the english did in yew for their longbows. the white sapwood and red/brown heartwood is rather distinctive. the heartwood can turn very dark with age & yours looks perfect. they were frequently made by related but subservient tribes for tribute to the zulu. iwisa were also made from large rhino horns, but now they're not legal unless really antique and accompanied by certification & licenses from cites and a few other agencies... and cost a large bundle of dosh.

Helleri · 14th January 2016, 10:00 PM

The second picture of the end grain shows that the color of the supposed heartwood is through color as it should be for heartwood. So the surface wasn't burned or stained that color on the one side.

Faking heartwood doesn't go as far as to cover the end grain. Because in the case of walking stick, chairs and other footed things it would just wear off. and in larger pieces it's butted against something usually and the end grain is hidden any way. So you can confidently say that one side is heartwood and the other is sap wood. And that it isn't all sap wood with an aesthetic choice to make it look like half heartwood.

RobertGuy · 15th January 2016, 10:36 AM

Thank you both for the information. I am much clearer on what I have now.

14th January 2016, 06:18 PM	#1
RobertGuy Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 135	Helleri Sorry for late reply, I missed your post. I've taken a couple of pictures, one with flash and one without. Not sure if they will be much help. A member of another forum queried if the wood could be lignum vitae. This is a South American wood so I'm not sure if it could be. However I did do an experiment which showed that my wooden knobkerrie did not float . So I have some more questions: 1. Is it made of Lignum vitae? 2. Are there similar African hardwoods that do not float? 3. Did Zulus have access to South American wood supplies? 4. Would anybody try to fake a fairly common African item using an uncommon and expensive exotic wood from South America? 5. Its not an African knobkerrie but a rare Inca ceremonial club? 6. It's not made of wood but cleverly painted metal/thermoplastic? Attached Images

14th January 2016, 08:42 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	amaZulu knobkerries (iwisa) are normally made from assegai wood (Curtisia dentata), another strong 'iron' wood that is denser than water. it is a member of the dogwood family which europeans used for spear hafts. in SA the boer favoured the wood for wagon wheel spokes. zulu also preferred it for iklwa hafts. they would use the area where the heart and sap woods would meet, like the english did in yew for their longbows. the white sapwood and red/brown heartwood is rather distinctive. the heartwood can turn very dark with age & yours looks perfect. they were frequently made by related but subservient tribes for tribute to the zulu. iwisa were also made from large rhino horns, but now they're not legal unless really antique and accompanied by certification & licenses from cites and a few other agencies... and cost a large bundle of dosh.

14th January 2016, 10:00 PM	#3
Helleri Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Chino, CA. Posts: 219	The second picture of the end grain shows that the color of the supposed heartwood is through color as it should be for heartwood. So the surface wasn't burned or stained that color on the one side. Faking heartwood doesn't go as far as to cover the end grain. Because in the case of walking stick, chairs and other footed things it would just wear off. and in larger pieces it's butted against something usually and the end grain is hidden any way. So you can confidently say that one side is heartwood and the other is sap wood. And that it isn't all sap wood with an aesthetic choice to make it look like half heartwood.

15th January 2016, 10:36 AM	#4
RobertGuy Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 135	Thank you both for the information. I am much clearer on what I have now.