Functional / Status knife arasa
Ndo / Alur / Lendu, Northeastern D.R. Congo / Northwestern Uganda
Iron, wood, copper, brass
Late 19th / early 20th century
This small knife was a working knife used by women among the Ndo, Alur (Lur), and Lendu, who live in border area between D.R. Congo and Uganda. Some examples were the prerogative of a chief’s wife, who wore it during festivals as a symbol of her power in the context of supervising the cultivation and harvesting of crops. According to H. Westerdijk, the Ndo, who live on the upper Kibali River, were the original makers of this knife.
Few specimens of this strangely shaped knife are known. One is in a Belgian Ethnological Museum and was published in Beaute Fatale (Elsen, 1992). Another, very damaged example was entered into the archive of the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna in the 19th century. Another is in the private collection of G. Wallrapp (Zirngibl & Kubetz, Panga Na Visu, 2009). Another example is in the collection of Jan Elsen, and published in Fatal Beauty (orange edition, 2009).
A closely related piece in the British Museum can be seen here.
7.75 in :: 19.5 cm
InventoryID #13-2083
SOLD
