Throwing Knife
Kare (northern Gbaya), Central African Republic
Forged iron, resin, vegetable fiber, leather
19th century

This Gbaya throwing knife is strikingly similar to the F-shaped throwing knives of the so-called Laka from Cameroon and Chad, and should be regarded as an intermediate form between those functional throwing blades and the ceremonial za blades of the Gbaya. Westerdijk states, "Of this rather rare type, no published example is known to me."

Clozel summed up the character of the za very precisely in 1896 by calling it a war knife that was also used in ceremony. Westerdijk hypothesizes that this type served as a prototype for all subsequent Gbaya knife types, and its importance is thus pivotal in understanding the weapons of this prolific and important group (Westerdijk, The African Throwing Knife, 1988).

This variation is exceptionally uncommon. I am aware of one example in a private French collection, and one in the collection of the Musée du Quai Branly. The Quai Branly is so uncertain about the origin of their example that they don't give it a tribal attribution; in fact, they don't even assign it a country of origin (Couteau de jet, Musée du Quai Branly, inv. #73.1963.0.541).

Field collected by Armand Marcel Fontaine between 1920 and 1950, when he served as a colonial administrator.

Published: Lefebvre, Luc. The Throwing Knives: The Northern Knives. 2019. Plate 182; 100 African Blades, no. 5 (Rider, 2021). 

25 in :: 63.5 cm

InventoryID #13-1023

SOLD