Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


79 - African Gogo Tribe Wooden Club, Mid 20th Century

This club is of a form consistent with those of the Gogo tribe (a Bantu group) of central Tanzania. Formed of light wood with some dark areas in an offset head formed from a root ball, this example measures 24¾ inches (62.5 cm) in overall length. A tapering handle most narrow in its center develops a typical low ridge line along the back in the area of transition to the head and along the outside curve of the head. A few irregular cracks are seen in the head reflecting the burl grain. The club weighs about 9 3/8 ounces (272 grams). Lew dated this example as circa 1950.




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