Trio of Symbolic and Sacrificial Blades
Kissi / Mano, Liberia
Iron, wood
Late 19th / early 20th century

The three knives presented here are quite obscure and originate from the Liberian hinterland. The two on the outside, with two upward curving branches, were used as chief’s insignias. The center piece, with a double handle, was a sacrificial object.

Among the Kissi, villages of about 150 people were situated in clearings. In the center was the meeting place, the tungo, a shelter without walls that doubled as a temple for the dead and as a guest house (Kerchache, Art of Africa, 1993).

A double-bladed knife related to the piece on the left is in the collection of the Museum of Ethnography (Stockholm, Sweden), 1974.14.0044. 

13.25, 11, 13.75 in :: 34, 28, 35 cm

InventoryID #13-2143

Not For Sale