Throwing knife, gbo or ndundo
Mbanja, Central African Republic/D.R. Congo
Forged iron, rattan
Late 19th/early 20th century

Knives in this spectacular style were carried as emblems of prestige and as functional throwing knives among the Ngbaka Mabo, Nzombo, Ngbandi, Mbanja, Ngombe, Ngbundu, Gobu, Mono, and Banda. However, this rare substyle comes from either the eastern Ngbandi or western Mbanja, who called it gbo, bo (Ngbandi), ndundo, dondo, or ondo (Mbanja). The form likely originated from the Ngbandi, who reportedly armed themselves with such pieces during their second and final migration from their former homeland into what is now the Central African Republic circa 1700.

This substyle can be identified by a number of quite specific attributes, all manifested on this example: stout and wide blades and the patterns engraved upon them, which are much bolder and deeper cut than the ones so finely executed on examples from the other tribes. A single-edged stem that is slightly curved, and composed of rather dark iron (which lacks slag streams), due to incomplete cleaning. A single, dotted line of punched circles running over the stem, and the handle bound with rush or cane. Westerdijk writes: "The normal dimensions of this rare type are 40x25cm [this one is 41x28cm]. I have been unable to trace a published picture of it" (The African Throwing Knife, 1988).

Collected in 1950.

16 in :: 41 cm

InventoryID #13-1000

SOLD