Traditional Billhook / Bush Knife
Kissi / Mano, Liberia
Iron, wood
Early 20th century
This sickle-shaped knife is more of a functional object than an item of cultural significance, and as such, it was likely distributed widely across Liberia. Useful in navigating the rugged terrain of the forested Liberian hinterland, it has a thick, sharpened blade.
Among the Kissi, villages of about 150 people are situated in clearings. In the center is the meeting place, the tungo, a shelter without walls that doubles as a temple for the dead and as a guest house (Kerchache, Art of Africa, 1993).
A related blade attributed to the Mano is in the collection of the Museum of Ethnography (Stockholm, Sweden), 1974.14.0046.
18.5 in :: 47 cm
InventoryID #13-2136
Price on Request