Short Sword
Gabon,
Iron, wood
19th century
This Gabonese short sword has often been attributed to the Fang, but I expect more research to someday unveil a more specific cultural attribution. Examples of this type are present in museums dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, without specific cultural information.
Described below is the collection of 18th century illustrations of an impotant collection by Sarah Stone. Page 106 depicts a blade very similar to this one (pictured below).
One of the Australian Museum Research Library's greatest treasures is a collection of 132 watercolours bound in red morroco, unpublished, bearing no title page except an attribution written in pencil: 'A collection of drawings by Sarah Stone of the principal objects of curiosity in Sir Ashton Lever's Museum, consisting of natural history, the arms ornaments and dresses of the inhabitants of New Zealand and other countries discover'd by Capt. Cook.'
In 1928 the Museum received this generous donation from Mr George Robertson of Angus and Robertson, Ltd. The illustrations are of objects from the eighteenth century Leverian Museum also known as Sir Ashton Lever’s Holophusikon. Sarah Stone’s drawings are the last visual record of this significant collection. The collection contained a number of objects collected on Captain Cook's second and third voyages. Unfortunately the Museum was auctioned off in lots in 1806. The objects were dispersed to individual buyers, smaller collections and other museums. The Sale Catalogue from this time listed the lots of objects being auctioned and accompanying annotations list some of the buyers.
19 in :: 48.5 cm
InventoryID #13-2105
SOLD
