Prestige Axe with Gun Elements, mundambala
Chokwe, Angola / Zambia
Wood, iron, pigment
After 1980

This prestige axe was made and carried by the Chokwe of Angola. Similar ornamental axes were found among the Holo, who live south of the Chokwe (Zirngibl & Kubetz, Panga Na Visu, 2009).

The shape of the bottom of the handle resembles the distinctive buttstock of assault rifles first introduced in the 1960s: composed of metal, it visually resembled the shape of the classic wooden assault rifle buttstock design, but with an open interior.

While this axe might be mimicking a 1970s Soviet AK-47 (AKS-74), or even a late 1960s Israeli IMI Galil (which defined this style of buttstock), it is most likely invoking the shape of the 1980s South African Vektor R4. Introduced in 1980, the design of the Vektor R4 was based on the IMI Galil, and was even a licensed variant. It was issued to all branches of the South African Defence Force in 1980 in the middle of the South African Border War. Also known as the Namibian War of Independence, that conflict lasted from 1966 to 1990, and involved Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union backed the People’s Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), which presents to possibility that this axe could also be designed after a Soviet rifle. But regardless of which rifle this axe handle imitates, this iconic design was clearly a potent symbol in 1980s Angola and Zambia.

19.25 in :: 49 cm

InventoryID #13-2099

SOLD