Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


230 - African Ovambo dagger, circa 1940s, with Wooden Mounts

This small, double-edged dagger has features typical of the Ovambo (Ambo) peoples of northern Namibia and southeren Angola and is dated to the 1940s in Lew's notes. The overall length is 14 1/2 inches and the blade is 8 inches. The wooden hilt is secured by two pins and has differing incised decoration on either side. The matching wooden sheath has a metallic reinforcing band just below the mouth and there is also a short copper strip reinforcing the belt loop which has an opening measuring 1 1/8 by 1/4 inches. The opposite face of the sheath has a typical opening exposing the face of the blade and there is a small drain hole at the tip of the scabbard. The dagger and its sheath weigh 5.5 ounces.




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