Prestige / Currency Axe
Ila / Yeke, Zambia / Southern D.R. Congo
Copper
19th century

There are very few axes of this type that have been collected. Four of them are in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum (acquired 1907), one is in the British Museum (acquired 1954), and a select few can be found in private collections. Both museums’ attributions are uncertain and inexact, but it seems the proper cultural attribution is the Ila of Zambia. The Pitt Rivers catalogue note indicates: “Southern Congo Free State (North of Broken Hill), Kakanda Village. Conventional axe of pure copper, obtained by the natives by smelting malachite. Used as an article of luxury and as a form of currency” (“Axe; currency,” British Museum, Af1954,+23.1592 ; “Copper axe with thin cylindrical handle,” Pitt Rivers Museum, 1907.82.3-6; Smith, Edwin William, The Ila-Speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, 1920; Wolf-Dieter Miersch, pers. communication, May 17, 2020).

Most examples of this rare type have a blade that is undecorated. However two examples in the Pitt Rivers collection (both collected in 1907) have incisions on the blade, like this piece: One and Two.

15.75 in :: 40 cm

InventoryID #13-1508

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