Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons
FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 6th October 2021, 07:26 PM   #1
galvano
Member
 
galvano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 178
Default club and knife

Hello everyone
here is my new ebony club.
What do you think?
and also 2 American knives with their punches, can you tell me more about its markings.
Thanks galvano
Attached Images
      
galvano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 6th October 2021, 11:26 PM   #2
Edster
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 408
Default

The farm/butcher knives were made by a firm that operated between the early 1900s and 1960. Interesting firm. See overview article from the Watertown Historical Society.

http://www.watertownhistory.org/arti...blacksmith.htm
Edster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 7th October 2021, 10:23 AM   #3
galvano
Member
 
galvano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 178
Smile club

hello and thanks for your good link.
is the club an African Maasai club?
thank you
galvano
galvano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th October 2021, 10:24 AM   #4
ausjulius
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: musorian territory
Posts: 422
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by galvano View Post
hello and thanks for your good link.
is the club an African Maasai club?
thank you
galvano
yes newly made and the wood is probably African olive wood died black with wood stain
ausjulius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th October 2021, 03:05 PM   #5
galvano
Member
 
galvano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 178
Default

Hello and thank you for your answer.
I checked and this club sinks in water, ebony and gaiac sinks in water. I sanded the end it is very black
cordially
galvano
galvano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th October 2021, 12:40 AM   #6
Montino Bourbon
Member
 
Montino Bourbon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Posts: 301
Default

That is a Masai throwing club, usually used for hunting small game.
Montino Bourbon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11th October 2021, 09:10 AM   #7
galvano
Member
 
galvano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 178
Default club

Hello
thank you for your precise answer.
galvano
galvano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11th October 2021, 04:31 PM   #8
kronckew
Member
 
kronckew's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Room 101, Glos. UK
Posts: 4,178
Default

it's called a rungu, as noted, a Maasai throwing club.
Mine: One ebony, one probably olive. The offset head and the small nipple in the centre of the ball head are distinctive on these.

People call them 'tourist', but the Maasai use them anyway. Same with their spears .
Attached Images
  

Last edited by kronckew; 11th October 2021 at 04:43 PM.
kronckew is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14th October 2021, 01:02 AM   #9
ausjulius
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: musorian territory
Posts: 422
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by galvano View Post
Hello and thank you for your answer.
I checked and this club sinks in water, ebony and gaiac sinks in water. I sanded the end it is very black
cordially
galvano
hi , was looking at it on a moblie, yeah some are ebony that is died in the white wood too, if you scraped it and its not lite runderneath yours is probably ebony... , ebony is not all black in your clube and some is dyed.,
many hard woods sink in water its not a way to tell its ebony. scraping it or sanding it would tells.
but dyed black african olive wood is probably the most common wood they are commign with, probably as the trees are common and wood heavy and sued in carving.
i can see the head on yours is dyed white sap wood... price is about the same when you buy them online no matter the wood, ebony or loive..its a mixed bag.. ive got about half dozen "black wood" tourist ones form online sellers... only one is not dyed ebony and is purely black wood.but the price was the same for all.. the main issue is not atall the wood used as all the rungu are heavy hard wood .
naturally the rungu is never (or almost never) ebony they are made from the root bulbs of various acacia species and other trees with knotted roots.. the issue is the modern rungu are made by wood carvers who sell ebony carvings.. they take a stright peice of wood and cut a club out of it..
now if you throw or use these sooner of later the head will just split or snap off.. i have broken these throwing them, the real rungu you see the masaai carrying about are all lite coloured orangish wood with a rootball these will not break as they are harvested in their natural form. you can throw it 100 times and its unharmed. there is a species fo tree the locals call a "club tree" that use used for just this task and other things like traditional axe handles

in south africa the knobkerries are almost all now cut from a solid hunk of wood and the heads again also split if used or throw because of the same issue as rootballs are nolonger used..

if you want a real rungu i guess buying in kenya in a masaai village will get you one but the sellers in tourist markets or online think epople want ebony or "black" wood" or something black and shiny. and as they carve with the olive wood and ebony they have this wood on hand.

if you see a black rungu it is always a tourist item.. also the tourist ones seem always to have a different balance.. the real ones made for "self defence" are much better balanced and have slimmer handles generally and the root ball is heavier wood and very tough.. in urban environments id say the locals have taken to the tourist clubs .. but in tribal settings the rootball head is still king.. on videos of Ma people you can see their clubs and they are almost always a nice darker rootball on a light coloured wood shaft..once or twice some ebay sellers had the rootball clubs mixed in with their lots and ive aquired afew but its irregular.
ausjulius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 15th October 2021, 11:03 AM   #10
galvano
Member
 
galvano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 178
Default

Hello everyone
thank you for your answers which inform me well
galvano
galvano is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:05 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.