Early 20th C Zulu walking stick ??

[katana]

Recently bought this walking stick. Seems Zulu ....hand made ( not cut on a lathe) . The square 'sectioned' spiral is very neatly done, shaft not completely round, slight bend and the knob is not symetrical.

A later, small steel ferrule (old) is fitted to the 'foot'. Has a nice balance...if used 'sword-like' (with the knob as the pommel....the spiralling is perfectly positioned for the thumb, giving excellent 'control' ....maybe just coincidental )

I was under the impression that a number of Zulu sticks / knobkerries were brought back during late 19thC - early 20thC and were 'slightly modified' for the walking use of the Gentleman 'about town'.
Could this stick be one of them ??

All comments gratefully received, thank you

David

[kronckew]

aha! so you're the one that beat me in the bidding, i should have added a few pounds to my bid... glad it went to a fellow forumite tho.

i believe it was marked as 'lignum vitae' which is the heaviest wood & does not come from africa. zulu's used Umhlebe (also called Umguna), a.k.a. 'assegai wood' (european name for Curtisia Faginea) a dogwood family member also known as lance wood. i believe the specific gravity of lignum vitae is heavier than water, assegai wood is just under, so the question is does it float?

african ebony and ironwood can also be denser than water tho i'm not sure if zulu's used it either.

edited:

just tried my knobkerry, which was supposedly made from 'assegai wood'. it sank like a rock...

water=62.4 lb/cu.ft.
Curtisia Faginea=56 lb/cu.ft.
lignum vitae/ironwood = 70-90 lb/cu. ft.

[katana]

Hi Wayne,
I'll take it into the bath with me ....for purely scientific reasons ...although I could also test it's functionality on 'poor' rubber duckie
I'm confident that it is Assegai wood, I'll report back with the result

Kind Regards David

[graeme gt]

Hi Guys, I thought it was Red Ivory .

[katana]

Well, the stick immediately sank like a stone. Hi Graeme, there is a slight 'reddish' tinge to some areas of the lighter coloured grain, but I do not think its 'natural' to the wood.

Can I conclude that this is indeed Zulu .... and does late 19th -early 20th seem reasonable date wise ?

I am still intrigued with the spiralling. As I mentioned before it provides excellent grip if the stick was used 'sword-like' and is positioned where it provides a good balance. With the Zulu tradition of stick fighting and knobkerrie use... I wonder whether such 'defence canes' were used using techniques from both disciplines ?

Regards David

[kronckew]

most works on using a cane i've seen combine swordlike strikes and thrusts with the ball (or handle) acting as a pommel and counterbalance & as something to prevent the cane being pulled out of your control. they also emphasise using the pommel as a striking surface, including holding it nearer the opposite end and swinging it like a mace or knobkerry. of course these strikes could also be used with a sword. holding the blade and thwacking an opponent on the head with the pommel were well know techniques back when they might mean survival. a cane can and should be used with both hands active.

there is a well known cane maker in the states that uses a spiral fluting all the way down the canes as a trade mark. the edges, bumps and lumps increase the damage done by a strike using them.


Linky for reference.

[graeme gt]

Hi here are my sticks one is more or less the same as yours giving a date is hard as one of mine is dated 1903 but you wouldnt think that to look at it .

[katana]

Thank you Wayne and Graeme for your input ,

Wayne, I knew that European 'cane fighting' advocated the 'sword-like' use. But, with regards to the Zulu......I have always thought it unusual that there are very few examples of Zulu swords ....and put this down to the fact they used the IKLWA as the medium range weapon of choice. So thought it might be an alien concept (to the Zulu) to brandish a 'wooden' sword.

Graeme, thats a nice selection of 'sticks', thank you for posting them. The 'dated' example (silver ?) does seem to suggest that Zulu sticks were indeed 'brought back' and embellished.
I do know that the late Victorians had a 'facination' with the Zulu ....I would also surmise that a number of Zulu manufactured items were in the kit bags of returning soldiers after the Boer War.

Kind Regards David

[Tim Simmons]

Lovely, like big conkers to little boys.

[kronckew]

zulu stick fighting:



Linky to youtube

few more videos there.

lots of interesting vids on cane fighting, irish stick fighting, etc.

[katana]

Just acquired another stick, not Zulu. Carved head serves as the knob, some impact damage, but still quite nice. Spiralling all done by hand, lots of wear, heavy wood....probably Ebony. Again nicely balanced as a 'sword'. Any ideas as to region would be nice ....thank you

Regards David

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