Zulu spear

[Kmaddock]

Hi
Bit outside my normal area
Do you think this is a Zulu, spear
It has the a typical notch on both sides behind the blade which I took to be a strictly Zulu manufacturing trait, this info is from the back of my mind somewhere
V light throwing spear with overall length of 137cm
Lovey platina, It was caked in red rust which I am in process of removing without hopefully affecting the underlying black oxide.
The binding is firm and is rattan as opposed to wire
Head is 15 cm with shank adding another 19 cm
Flaired butt
From a quick look on the forum I may have identified it as a ingcula type used for hunting rather than warfare
If it is Zulu would anyone be able put an age to it?
Just picked up in a car boot sale for a few euro so if it is not the real deal no worries

Regards

Ken

[kronckew]

Looks appropriate for the Zulu throwing spear, Shaka stopped the use of throwing spears as their primary weapon, but they, like the romans, used them to soften up the enemy just before contact, when they used their ikl'wa (stabbing spears) or iwisa (knobkerry clubs). the throwing spears had shorter blades, longer tangs, and longer thinner shafts, but invariably had the pinch notches at the blade/tang junction. bindings were wire or fibre, or leather thongs, or de-gloved cattle/goat tail skin which was applied wet & shrank tight. Being the top dogs in the area, the subordinate conquered tribes from a wide area, like the shona, supplied their tools and weapons as tribute, so there is some variances. (age is really hard to tell)

p.s.- they NEVER used socketed spear heads.

My best ikl'wa for comparison:

[Battara]

I could be wrong but I was thinking that what you have is an assegai and what Kronckew showed is a proper iklwa.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Battara

I could be wrong but I was thinking that what you have is an assegai and what Kronckew showed is a proper iklwa.

the term assegai could be applied to his throwing spear, see also this

wiki definition

[Kmaddock]

Thanks for info.

It looks like the metal has been pinched inwards.
Is this part of the manafacture process?

Lovely balance and feel to the spear.

Regards
Ken

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

...
It looks like the metal has been pinched inwards.
Is this part of the manafacture process?
...

I'm not sure, seems unique to the Zulu spears, their tanged axes don't have the pinch, but all their spears do, and other tribes do not have it. As i mentioned, other tribes made weapons for them, so they only seem to have pinched the zulu ones. Maybe a mark to differentiate them as intended for the zulu, like the british broad arrow. Maybe someone else knows more.

[Kmaddock]

Thanks for the confirmation Kronckew
I guess it is a handy identification mark for collectors to have a ISO mark on Zulu Spears
I know as you stated in your initial reply African weaponry is difficult to date but do you think it might be of Victorian period? Or at least sytle to that period
Regards
Ken

[kronckew]

'Victorian' covers almost the entire 19c, so that would probably be safe. The wood, binding and steel patina looks consistent with that to me too. because of the UK's invasion of the KwaZulu nation in the latter half of the era, and the war with the Boers, a lot of souvenirs from there were brought back to the UK.

[kronckew]

I just took delivery of two Ik'lwa that were sold as a pair of shortened ethnic african spears, and quite inexpensively. The sharks (other than me) were not biting that day.

14 in.sharp blades of flat diamond x-section, 26 in. wooden hafts tapering up to the hilt end, socketed blades bound with twisted rawhide 'bolsters'. they both have the Zulu 'pinch' on the bit of tang outside the socket. These I gather were 'GI' for the lower ranking warriors

[colin henshaw]

Regarding the possible identification of "Zulu" spears, I have done a little research, and these are my findings :-

A differentiation should firstly be made between "made by the Zulus" and "used by the Zulus".

The book "Zulu Treasures" published by the KwaZulu Cultural Museum and the Local History Museums" 1996 has a good overview of Zulu metalworking and illustrates a number of spears. It states "the notching at the base of the blade is typical of North Nguni spears". "North Nguni" refers to Zulu, Matabele and Swazi peoples.

The National Museums Scotland website illustrates several spears from Malawi (ex Nyasaland) with the same notching to the base of the blade, and which are definitely not Zulu or even North Nguni.

The Zulus seemed to mainly use hide strip, or vegetable fibre binding to attach the spearhead (often covered by a section of cowtail). Plaited wire was more often used by tribes to the north, such as the Mashona.

In addition, there were offshoots of the Zulus who travelled further north, such as the Ngoni and Matabele who retained Zulu culture and manufactures, at least for a time.

Its probably safe to say that spears that evidence usage of metal files are of later date.

Its also true to say that other peoples near to the dominant Zulu, copied their material culture to an extent ... the Thonga of Mozambique for example.

So, the picture is a bit mixed regarding identification of spears as "Zulu", although it can be often quite likely as war booty, the only 100% sure method would be to have solid provenance, I guess.

Its an interesting topic ... does anyone else have more information to add ?

[kronckew]

I've read the tribes surrounding the Zulu that were essentially vassal tribes, supplied weapons as a tribute tax to the Zulu. The short hafted Ik'lwa, as far as I know, were peculiar to the post-Shaka Zulu regimental fighting style & life system. Did they recruit or form regiments from the vassal tribes?

[Kmaddock]

Hi All
Thanks for extra information, and two v nice acquisitions.
In Ireland the pickings are slim at the moment on the ethnic weaponry front. 18 th century swords are coming my way thick and fast though so not all bad news
Regards
Ken

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Did they recruit or form regiments from the vassal tribes?

Hi Wayne

From what I've read ... the Zulu kingdom was just a small clan in the very early 19th century, but under the dynamic leadership of King Shaka, it expanded greatly by both conquest of surrounding peoples and alliances. All males of a certain age within the Zulu Kingdom were required to serve as warriors for a fair period of time, and were more or less a standing army which could be called upon when needed.

I am attaching an illustration from Montague's book "Weapons and Implements of Savage Races" 1921 for interest.

[kronckew]

yes, the TV series 'SHAKA' follow that storyline. Worth watching. Spoiler: He gets assasinated in the end. King Cetshwayo (Zulu war 1879) did better, visiting London and was quite the hit there, returned to kwaZulu and ruled there till he passed in 1884.

The two ik'lwa stabbing spears are on the left, the 2 much longer isijula (light throwers) on the right, with long tangs like roman pila, possibly for the same reason the Romans did it.

King Cetshwayo: (I suspect the photo was flipped horizontally at some point in history. Hankie pocket should be on the left breast.)