Bush Knife
Bana / Ndjeny, Northern Cameroon / Eastern Nigeria
Iron, leather, buffalo hide
Early 20th century

While drawing much inspiration from throwing knives and ceremonial knives used by the tribes of the Mandara Mountains, this knife type was used primarily as a functional bush knife - for clearing shrub, killing snakes and scorpions, and for protection at night and on journeys. It formed part of an adult man's standard attire, whose prestige was augmented by carrying it.

This knife type is primarily found among the tribes inhabiting the southeastern Mandara Mountains, described as "freedom-loving traditionalists who until quite recently shunned and successfully withstood all major encroachments of Western culture upon their way of life." These were mainly collected among the Bana and Ndjeny (who number 20,000 and 10,000 respectively), but examples have also been collected in smaller numbers among the Daba, Kapsiki, Mada, and Gemjak (Westerdijk, The African Throwing Knife, 1988).

This example has human figure incised into the stem just above the crossbar. The last photo below is designed to clarify the incisions. While it is easy to jump to conclusions, the incisions highlighted in red likely do not represent genetalia. There is a good chance the "red" incisions are intended to represent this very knife - while the stem is not depicted in the incisions, the pale red line helps to illustrate where it would be. 

21.75 in :: 55 cm

InventoryID #13-2554

Price on Request