Masai? Spear

[Lee]

Thank you, Gentlemen, for your insights.

I have a friend who served in the (U.S.) Peace Corps in Tanzania in the mid 1960s and he brought back a Masai spear - very much like the newer example in my initial photo - purchased in downtown Dar es Salaam along with shield. A friend had asked him to bring back a set and he bought his own set at the same time. I'll opine that these were 'facultative' as tourist items - that is, something still made mostly for the local market - rather than "obligate" such as the three or so very degenerate examples I recently saw at the same flea market diminished in scale to fit into luggage and also something without impressive workmanship.

The newer one in my photo came cheaply from a local auction. I have another of the same form - an early purchase on my part - that was all forged to shape but which had been dulled and chrome plated. That one is actually hanging up along with a number of other early acquisitions of quite variable quality. I cannot manage a panoply either, more from architectural than social restrictions, but I have two 'braces' for my overflow of spears - one for African and the other for Asian.

That image from Thomson's book could be the same spear The dealer indicated that it had been from a museum deaccession, with no further details, but well worth the $100.

[kronckew]

see

Samburu spears (for Maasai)


Chart in my post no. 3, example marked a. at the top of the chart.

[Lee]

Thank you for sharing that chart - it is most interesting how styles evolved and varied by location.

[Peter B.]

Hello dear friends of african weapons.

I was on vacation a few weeks and would now like to contribute some information to the thread.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to buy a lot of 40 african spears.
They come from an East German museum, so they come from before 1939, probably from colonial times before 1918.
It also contained 10 Masai spears. 5 with a wide blade, 3 with a narrow blade and a strong central ridge and two pieces with a narrow blade but a flat central ridge.
It can be assumed that they were all acquired at the same time.
The forms mentioned existed at the same time at the beginning of the 20th century. So the shape of the blade is not a sign of age.
In Springs "African Arms and Armor" it is stated that around the turn of the century there was a change from broad-edged to narrow spears. This would mean that the wide specimens are always "old" and are no longer used today, while the narrow ones can be over 100 years old or new.
Here you can make a distinction based on the quality of the production. The old specimens in my collection have exactly straight edges, and the central ridge is sharp and straight. The surfaces are polished and show no forge marks.
I saw newly manufactured spears of the same type for the tourist market in Kenya, and the Maasai may still use them in this form today: The blade is roughly and unevenly forged, you can sometimes see welds between the blade and the spout and you can see that the final shape was electrically ground.

The long spear in the picture is 2.55m long (my rooms are only 2.50 high)

[Peter B.]

I did a little research in my library and found very conflicting information in the historical literature on the manufacture of Massai spears:

F. Kallenberg (Auf dem Kriegspfad gegen die Massai, 1892, p. 89) claims that there is only one kind of real Massai spears and that the Massai are often falsely depicted with Chagga / Dschagga spears in other contemporary literature. (Picture 1 + 2)

M. Merker (Die Masai, 1910, p. 126) states that the Massai use their own spears as well as those made by others (by the Chagga). It shows the distinguishing features based on the cross-section. (Picture 3)

Others claim that the Massai do not make their own weapons at all, but always have them made by other tribes.
(See also the posts by Colin and Fernando)
@ Fernando, could you specify Terry Thorp's publication more precisely?

I think, it is possible that all the informations are correct and that there is a historical development from the late 18th century to the present day, which runs parallel to the development or change of the spears.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Peter B.

... Others claim that the Massai do not make their own weapons at all, but always have them made by other tribes.
(See also the posts by Colin and Fernando)
@ Fernando, could you specify Terry Thorp's publication more precisely ...

THE BREWERY OWNER'S WIFE ...page 60.

[Peter B.]

Here are some additional old pictures with Massai speras.
Abb. 41 and 42 is from 1910, the others earlier.
The spears in figs. 41 and 42 show the transition from the broad shape to the narrow one (here still with a flat ridge)

Note also the sword in Fig. 41 in its original form

[Peter B.]

And here some recent photos from an illustrated book from 1980