Small collection of African daggers

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:15 PM

I found these daggers this morning near our town's antique market and got a real sweet deal

In my opinion, all these daggers are from Central Africa (probably Congo or neighbouring countries). Some are quite intresting as I have difficulty in determining them.
They all are quite old with a nice patina on the wooden handles.

I will put some detailed pictures of all the knives on the forum. Here is the lot !
Perhaps some else got a clue ?

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:22 PM

Here is the first knife (I'll start from the left)

It's total length is 36 cm with a narrow blade (max. 2,5 cm) measuring 20,5 cm. The knife also has an unusual long handle, made of wood with some iron binding near the blade.

This one is a puzzle to me.

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:25 PM

This small dagger is probably from the Azande tribe in Congo.

Total length is 26,5 cm with a blade measuring 17,8 cm. The middle of the blade is decorated with a dotted line (on both sides) which I have seen on Yakoma knives.

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:30 PM

The third knife is probably the oldest one. On it, I found a little label with '19th century' written on it. The blade is real heavy. At first, it looked like a spear blade, converted into a dagger. But the blade has a tang, which is unusual for Central African spear blades.

I have no clue from which tribe this could be.

Total length is 33 cm with a blade measuring 24 cm (without tang). The wooden handle is entirely covered with copper binding.

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:32 PM

The fourth knife is also Azande, with a nice leather sheath.

Total lengt is 31,5 with a blade measuring 19,7 cm. In my opinion, the wooden handle was once partially covered with some kind of binding.

Freddy · 8th September 2006, 05:34 PM

The last knife, I didn't have the time yet to do some research. But here is it anyway.

Total length : 38 cm. A wooden handle with iron and copper binding and also some copper nails.

Lew · 8th September 2006, 08:15 PM

It's good to live in Belgium! Nice finds

Lew

Luc LEFEBVRE · 8th September 2006, 11:34 PM

Joli lot Freddy !
Luc

Freddy · 10th September 2006, 08:25 PM

I was able to identify the third and last dagger I described. Here they are again :

I had a look around on http://www.mambele.be/ and I think these two daggers can be attributed to the following tribes from Congo : Ngombe, Doko, Ngbandi or Mbudja.

As to the dagger with the slender blade, I'm still guessing.

Does anyone has a suggestion ? It would be much appreciated.

tom hyle · 11th September 2006, 06:44 PM

Pretty sure the skinny one is Ngombe etc. The grooved handle and grooved wrap resemble those on (especially "legged") swords such as mambele.

8th September 2006, 05:15 PM	#1
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	Small collection of African daggers I found these daggers this morning near our town's antique market and got a real sweet deal In my opinion, all these daggers are from Central Africa (probably Congo or neighbouring countries). Some are quite intresting as I have difficulty in determining them. They all are quite old with a nice patina on the wooden handles. I will put some detailed pictures of all the knives on the forum. Here is the lot ! Perhaps some else got a clue ?

8th September 2006, 05:22 PM	#2
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	? ? ? Here is the first knife (I'll start from the left) It's total length is 36 cm with a narrow blade (max. 2,5 cm) measuring 20,5 cm. The knife also has an unusual long handle, made of wood with some iron binding near the blade. This one is a puzzle to me.

8th September 2006, 05:30 PM	#4
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	? ? ? The third knife is probably the oldest one. On it, I found a little label with '19th century' written on it. The blade is real heavy. At first, it looked like a spear blade, converted into a dagger. But the blade has a tang, which is unusual for Central African spear blades. I have no clue from which tribe this could be. Total length is 33 cm with a blade measuring 24 cm (without tang). The wooden handle is entirely covered with copper binding.

8th September 2006, 05:25 PM	#3
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	This small dagger is probably from the Azande tribe in Congo. Total length is 26,5 cm with a blade measuring 17,8 cm. The middle of the blade is decorated with a dotted line (on both sides) which I have seen on Yakoma knives.

8th September 2006, 05:32 PM	#5
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	The fourth knife is also Azande, with a nice leather sheath. Total lengt is 31,5 with a blade measuring 19,7 cm. In my opinion, the wooden handle was once partially covered with some kind of binding.

8th September 2006, 05:34 PM	#6
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	The last knife, I didn't have the time yet to do some research. But here is it anyway. Total length : 38 cm. A wooden handle with iron and copper binding and also some copper nails.

8th September 2006, 08:15 PM	#7
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	It's good to live in Belgium! Nice finds Lew

8th September 2006, 11:34 PM	#8
Luc LEFEBVRE Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: France Posts: 473	Joli lot Freddy ! Luc

10th September 2006, 08:25 PM	#9
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	I was able to identify the third and last dagger I described. Here they are again : I had a look around on http://www.mambele.be/ and I think these two daggers can be attributed to the following tribes from Congo : Ngombe, Doko, Ngbandi or Mbudja. As to the dagger with the slender blade, I'm still guessing. Does anyone has a suggestion ? It would be much appreciated.

11th September 2006, 06:44 PM	#10
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Pretty sure the skinny one is Ngombe etc. The grooved handle and grooved wrap resemble those on (especially "legged") swords such as mambele.