Elaborately Decorated Short Sword
Kalemie, Southeastern D.R. Congo
Solid copper
1880 - 1910
This piece comes from a workshop in the city of Kalemie, on the western coast of Lake Tanganyika, where members of various cultures converged in the late 19th century because of prosperity realized from its location on a major trade route. Blacksmiths from the Luba, Hemba, Songye, and Holoholo manufactured knives in newly invented styles, primarily to satisfy the demand of Arabic and European outsiders.
Felix describes the era succinctly: In the 1880s when the level of Lake Tanganyika dropped considerably, various groups occupied the new lands around Kalemie, giving rise to the Holoholo entity. They cooperated to a certain extent with the Arabs and later with the Europeans. When the Arabs were driven out by the European colonizers all prosperity went with them. Depopulation was accelerated by sleeping sickness, disease, and intestine wars.
So while the city and the new knife styles rose to prominence quickly, they both disappeared abruptly in 1910. The quality of these knives is clearly outstanding, even though they were only ever created as items for sale (Elsen, Armes Touristiques: Epées Courtes du Sud-Ouest du Lac Tanganyika, 2005; Felix, 100 Peoples of Zaire and Their Sculpture, The Handbook, 1987).
Ex. Pace Primitive, 2008 (# 54-3451).
22.5 in :: 57 cm
InventoryID #13-1681
Price on Request
