Hi all, I can't say nothing about the open work on the scabbard, but on the book "De fer et de fiertè" the author (Jan Elsen) says that the groups of the North Cameroon are master of the technique of lost wax and that the brass sheathed knives resemble the ones in wood and leather. So maybe the brass versions are used for ceremonial purpose?? (like, in reverse view, like the ikulas and the ilwoons in wooden that are used among the Kuba - Congo - in some periods)
