2 old African spears straight from the junkshop
 

Now and then, I visit some "junkshops" in my city. Most of the time, there‘s nothing to be found.

But yesterday, I was lucky. Somewhere in a dark corner, I found these two pieces :

1) A harpoon from the Mongo-tribes in Congo. Length : 164 cm. With a well forged spear blade in the form of an arrow. On the shaft, there are some remains of the woven cord which is used to secure the spear point. When thrown at an animal, It's purpose is to unwind, so that the shaft would make it difficult for the animal to enter the bush.
A nice feature is also the copper rings at the bottom of the shaft used as counterweight and decoration.

2) A small spear used by the Lia-, Konda- and Nkundu-tribes. Length : 134 cm. Typical lightweight shaft (a bit bent).
The spear blade seems to be badly damaged. If you check the books, you will notice that these spear points are intentionally made like this. I don't know why.

When I found these two spears, they were in a terrible state. All covered with rust. :eek:
After some ‘elbow grease‘, the result is satisfactory :)

These two pieces certainly are old. They probably were forgotten on some attic, until it was cleaned up. The owners sold them to the junkshop. You wouldn't believe what I had to pay for them :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding2095.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding2086.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding2091.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding2093.jpg

Lia, Konda or Nkundu spears
 

By the way, this is how a good Lia-, Konda- or Nkundu-spear shoul look like (picturer from 'Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika' - Sammlung Museum für Völkerkunde, Frankfurt am Main - 1985)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...numan/0183.jpg

Hello Freddy, nice finds!! I like especially the harpoon :)

Hi Freddy, your lucky day indeed... Very nice, the Lia-, Konda- or Nkundu-spear, something special. and yes I am intrested, I give you twice the price you paid for it :D
My experience is that even in belgium most people don't know the value of these items, somethimes the price is just ridiculous cheap. :)
Guy

Yes, Guy. The price on these two was ridiculous.

Here are some pics of a 'better' Lia-spear, more sophisticated. Notice the spirally turned shaft. According to the books, this is typical for these spears and also a sign of quality.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1798.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1797.jpg


And together with this spear goes an all wooden shield. Length : 129 cm, width : 17,5 cm. This shield is carved from one piece of wood (also the handle).
The front of the shield is painted

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1799.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1800.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1801.jpg

I like those spears, nice shaft! About the shield, I think I have the same, or almost ;), have to collect later this day. The front is carved and is, if it's correct what they told me, painted with chickenblood? it should be very old..., I list some picture's this evening.

Excellent, what a good day. Ahh that feeling, makes you eager for the next sortie.

Love your "junk". :)

Here some pictures of the shield, is a bit fragiel from age I assume.

Unfortunately........junk shops in Britain....only sell.......JUNK :(

Guy, your shield looks like an old piece. I don't know about the chicken blood. I think it had a hard life.

Chicken blood is used on statues, that's true. But I never heard that tribes in the Congo worshipped their shields.
There are some good pics of this type of shield in the book : 'Shields - Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania' from the Collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva. (pages 83 and 85).
There's also a basketry shield with the same narrow design from the same area as ours.

Anyway, here are some pics of my shield. Although faded, the colours are still there. Mostly blue, red and white.
My shield also has some engravings, like yours.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../Liaschild.jpg

I tried to do magic with my pics, but I failed :o I'll have to ask my son again :p

Here are they again :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1802.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1803.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1804.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elding1805.jpg


That's better, I hope :rolleyes: