Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


170 - African Sengese Sickle Throwing Knife

Lew's notes place this as a throwing knife from the area of Chad in Africa, and nearly identical objects attributed as sengese sickle throwing knives from the Kirdi Matakam people of Cameroon and northern Nigeria have been encountered. The knife is forged of iron and has an old dark brown patination; the area of the handle is wrapped with leather, stitched closed along one side, and with some losses at either end, especially where the forging widens before creation of a loop. The far end has an edge entirely around the convex facet of the sickle-shaped portion with shallow indentations of the edge reflecting old damage. The concave edge runs from the tip until the beginning of the hairpin turn back. Simple decoration of repeated lines at the edges of the neck and the raised area of the blade is present on both sides. Overall length is 22 inches with a maximum width of 8½ inches and weight is 32½ ounces.

The third party photos are gone, but this thread likely refers to this item.




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