Congo sword ID help

Miguel · 28th April 2021, 07:52 PM

Hi Chris

Nice old sword. I find Congolese weapons to be very interesting and I believe your sword to be a Kuba weapon. After searching through my books and looking through various websites I believe that I have found a Kuba sword similar to yours. Please take a look at www.memoire-africaine.com look under arms and then the section on Glaives and you will find a photo of a similar weapon attributed to the Kuba that is dated to 1900.

Miguel

Mefidk · 29th April 2021, 06:51 AM

Thank you Marc and Miguel
So I am getting the feeling that the decoration on the hilt is what marks this out as Kuba, but I could see some more of the pictures of the Songye swords on the site that Miguel linked to with similar hilt and blade, but not the decoration. So perhaps pointing to overlap between Songye and Kuba, which probably brings it back to Luluwa.
That website is really useful, thanks for linking to to it Miguel!

28th April 2021, 07:52 PM	#1
Miguel Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 584	Hi Chris Nice old sword. I find Congolese weapons to be very interesting and I believe your sword to be a Kuba weapon. After searching through my books and looking through various websites I believe that I have found a Kuba sword similar to yours. Please take a look at www.memoire-africaine.com look under arms and then the section on Glaives and you will find a photo of a similar weapon attributed to the Kuba that is dated to 1900. Miguel

29th April 2021, 06:51 AM	#2
Mefidk Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Denmark Posts: 157	Thank you Marc and Miguel So I am getting the feeling that the decoration on the hilt is what marks this out as Kuba, but I could see some more of the pictures of the Songye swords on the site that Miguel linked to with similar hilt and blade, but not the decoration. So perhaps pointing to overlap between Songye and Kuba, which probably brings it back to Luluwa. That website is really useful, thanks for linking to to it Miguel!