Large Wooden Short Sword
Igbo / Igala, Nigeria
Wood, accumulation
Late 19th / early 20th century

This large skeuomorphic wooden blade mimics the iron short swords of the Igbo and Igala from the Cross River cluster of central-southern Nigeria. Iron blades in this style were originally used in warfare, but their function changed entirely to ceremonial generations ago. They were reportedly the prerogative of the "Okega" cult, which is related to the famous "Ikenga" cult (Cole, Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos, 1984; "Iron knife, Nigeria," Museum of Vancouver, FC 43; Zirngibl & Kubetz, Panga Na Visu, 2009).

Ikenga figures almost always brandish a weapon in their right hand, and an incredible Igala Okega figure from the Musée Dapper weilds an extremely similar wooden blade to the one seen here (albeit half the size) in its right hand (pictured below). This raises the possibility that while this example might have been a large stand-alone ceremonial object, it could also have an accoutrement of a large Okega wooden statue (Musée Dapper, Chasseurs et Guerriers, 1998). 

Below, this wooden sword is shown alongside the traditional Igbo / Igala iron sword that it imitates. 

This large wooden sword was collected in Nigeria, and its attribution to the Igbo / Igala seems rock solid. However, a remarkably similar sword was published in Zirngibl's Rare African Short Weapons (1983). Pictured below wrapped in wildebeest or roan antelope tail fur, it shares numerous characteristics with this piece: it is composed of a large single piece of wood with a heavily encusted surface, and it shares the same disctinctive shape at the tip of the blade, similarly adorned with raised dots. The two handles are similar, but not as closely related. The 1983 piece has specific collection information: "from the Futa Djalon district in the northern part of the Republic of Guinea [and] probably used by either the Fulbe (Ful) or Mandingo."

A third piece sheds more light on the origin of these swords: sold at Hammer Auktionen in 2020, it is pictured at the bottom of this page. The important similarities to note between this piece and the 1983 piece are the extremly similar and distinctive handle shape, the uncommon piercing of the blade, and the nearly-identical size (1 cm difference in height). Importantly, the auction piece has an iron blade, like those of the Igbo and Igala (Hammer Auktionen, Basel, "52: African Art & Tribal Weapons," 9 April 2020, Lot 92.)

The sword is distinctly Nigerian, but the specific attribution to Futa Djalon district in northern Guinea is troublesome. One possibility of how a Nigerian sword made it all the way to Guinea is via the trade routes of the Peul (also known as the Fulani and Fulbe, as described in the 1983 book), who traversed a vast territory from Mauritania to Chad, herding cattle, conducting trade, spreading Islam and, for a stretch, building an empire through war (Pers. communication, Amyas Naegele, June 2022). 

31 in :: 79 cm

InventoryID #13-1869

Price on Request