Throwing Knife, Bwambwa
Ngombe, D.R. Congo
Forged iron, rattan, cotton textile
1920s

The design of this throwing knife, produced by the Ngombe, is derived from a knife known as za, which was invented by the Ngbaka. The Ngbaka spoke of how their cultural hero, Seto, carried one, and referred to this type as the "wife" of another of their blades, the za sali, who was the husband.

Ngombe throwing knives took an expert blacksmith several days to produce, and were expensive. While they could be effectively thrown as weapons, their value made such an act impractical; Westerdijk writes, "its owner hurled it only in the last resort, or when he esteemed to have a fair chance of recovering it." As such, this weapon's primary role was that of an emblem of power, wealth, and prestige. Known as ngwolo or bwambwa, this weapon type was mainly carried by village heads, lineage elders, and other notables as a symbol of prestige. They were brandished during important funerals, used in initiation ceremonies, and even carried by police during the colonial period.

This type, with its straight wing, only slightly curved crown, and unincised surface represents a distinct Bwambwa variation, a rare type.

There was a period in which the Ngombe imitated the style of Ngbaka throwing knives, which lasted from before the colonial period until the 1920s. From the 1920s until the 1950s, the Ngombe strayed from their strict imitation of Ngbaka styles, and created knives in a style that was more distinctly their own. The rather short phase lying in between these two periods is the only time the Ngombe produced knives of this variation (Westerdijk, The African Throwing Knife, 1988).

16.5 in :: 42 cm

InventoryID #13-593

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