Quiver containing three throwing blades
Sara, Chad
Forged iron, buffalo hide (hard leather), goatskin/antelope hide (soft leather)
Early 20th century

These throwing knives come from the Lake Chad area, which is widely believed to be the birthplace of the African throwing knife. The Sara, who dominate this area of flat swamps, call this blade mya or mia. While the quiver was a common element used to carry these throwing knives, there are few examples that remain (Felix, Kipinga, 1991).

At first, I was skeptical of this piece because the (exceedingly few) comparable examples I've seen all contained blades that seemed like a 'matched set,' unlike the two blade styles represented here. However, upon handling these three knives, it is immediately apparent that they share the same origin. Weight, style, sharpness, blackening, incision design (thick, deep parallel grooves on one side, delicate, fine x's on the other) - everything about these blades makes it clear that they're siblings.

Largest throwing knife - 23" :: 58.5 cm

InventoryID #13-963

SOLD