Scepter in the form of a throwing knife, hâ
Mboum (Mbum), Cameroon
Iron
After 1950

This object, inspired by a throwing knife, is not a knife or a currency object. It was an emblem of royalty for chiefs of Mboum clans. Most authors have stressed the purely ceremonial and nonutilitarian character of these knives. Frobenius reported in 1912 that the residence of the Mboum king was named after his hâ pieces, in which several were stored together. He states he is of the opinion that their presence among the Mboum points back to a period in which throwing knives were actually used. While much has changed today, the hâ still has a place in the modern cultural context of the Mboum (Elsen, De Fer et De fierté, 2003; Westerdijk, The African Throwing Knife, 1988).

In 2011, Sotheby’s sold two Mboum scepters for prices exponentially higher than their estimates: 48,750 € (est 4,000 – 7,000€, seen here) and 216,750€ (est. 6,000 – 9000€, seen here). Subsequently, numerous Mboum scepters appeared on the market, and I suspect production in Cameroon escalated as well. The age of this piece is difficult to pinpoint – while it appears to have been manufactured with the proper tools and in the traditional manner, the style of the incisions and the quality of the forge welds places it somewhere in recent times, hopefully at least before 2011.

22 in :: 56 cm

InventoryID #13-1614

SOLD