Sabre Knife, Magia
Banda / Manza / Nsakara / Mbugbu / Langbase / Gobu / Togbo / Sabanga / Gbanziri, Central African Republic / D.R. Congo
Forged iron, wood
Early 20th century

This elegant sabre knife functioned as a dance implement for female initiates and was also wielded by elderly men as a symbol of authority. This seems like a strange combination of responsibilities for a blade, but this combination has been reported in multiple scholarly works. While there is an enormous amount of research on Banda throwing knives, there is an unfortunately scant amount of research on this Banda knife type, even though it is regularly represented in books and in important collections. The larger size of this piece along with its sharp edges suggests this was more of a functional piece or prestige symbol rather than a dance implement (Elsen, The Sickle Weapons, Part 1, 1996; Westerdijk, African Metal Implements, 1984).

20.5 in :: 52 cm

InventoryID #13-1007

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