Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


1056 - Small African Dagger with Fur and Leather Covered Mountings

This is a small, light weight dagger with a double edged tapering blade that measures 7½ inches (19 cm) in length. A pair of shallow parallel grooves are present offset from the center on each blade face. The hilt is composed of leather with fur where it expands towards the blade and towards an iron ring pommel. The grip has been fashioned of woven dark leather strips. A wooden sheath is covered with fur bearing leather for most of its body and for a bulbous expansion at its tip. Adjacent to the tip there is woven leather en suite with the grip and a fabric loop with a woven leather slide. There are considerable losses to the fur on one side of the sheath and around the pommel. The blade is marked by old pitting and discoloration in patches. Lew left no attribution for this clearly genuine, old and well-used piece. The dagger in its sheath measures 13¼ ounces (33.5 cm) in length and weighs 6¾ ounces (192 grams).




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