Prestige Sickle Blade
Binja (Benge) / Bati, D.R. Congo
Iron, wood, copper
Early 20th century

This sickle blade comes from a complex of groups that inhabit the north-central D.R. Congo and the adjacent parts of the Central African Republic, a region covered in tropical rainforest and forested savannah. While this style is very distinctive, its history isn't thoroughly researched, but it seems to have been a prestige item derived from a functional form (Elsen, Fatal Beauty, 2010).

Elsen describes the sickle blade as belonging to one of the most important blade types in the evolutionary context, since it exists "on the point of becoming a throwing knife, or has just ceased to be one" (Elsen, The Sickle Weapons, Part I, 1996).

28.5 in :: 72 cm

InventoryID #13-2563

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