Rungu?

[newola]

Good afternoon all. I recently acquired this club and bought it labelled as a Maasai ’Rungu’. After receiving the item, although happy with it, and looking at other examples online I’m now unsure of its origins.

It’s got some age to it but I wouldn’t venture exceptionally old. It measures 51 cm long and has grooves cut toward the head end. The shaft has a palm swell also.

Can anyone please identify or confirm it’s origins? Also what is the 2 tone wood it has been made from please?

Many thanks

Al

[RobT]

Hi Al,

I have a few clubs but I am far from knowledgeable about them, so take what I have to say with some salt. AFAIK, rungu come in two flavors. The type with the offset head is the one more commonly encountered while the straight version is less frequently seen. I have submitted a picture of a straight one in my collection. I have seen a few others like it but I have never seen one with a carved shaft like yours. That doesn't mean that they don't exist as a traditional form or that yours is a tourist version. Yours could be an even more rare variant. Consider also that clubs are very commonly carried by many African groups and groups other than the Maasai use clubs similar to those carried by the Maasai. Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable than myself will soon comment.

Sincerely,
RobT

[kronckew]

More traditional Ma'asi rung throwing clubu, one ebony, the other olive wood. Yours may have been acquired by a wandering ma'asi as a souvenir, but are not, as far as I can see, traditional forms. More like knobkerries, which frequently used two-tone assagai wood (Curtisia dentata, ie. dogwood)


Lengths vary, as does the wood, they sometimes blacken the lighter ones to look like ebony. They, like their spears, are still working tools, not ornaments.


My two:

[newola]

Gents, I appreciate your feedback. Either way it's a nice display piece and is very tactile.

Al

[David R]

A recently purchased one in my collection. Vendors photo and description.

[Tim Simmons]

I believe the Rungu is the bent head club. Which is a weapon your club is like these more of a dress item some are related to status, here is a pic of one in the form of your but with beads. I no longer have it. Why I got rid of it I do not understand now.

[RobT]

Tim Simmons,

The second to last club you show looks pretty much like mine. Neither yours nor mine look like dress or status items. They aren't finely finished or gussied up in any way but they both look like they could deliver a devastating blow. Maybe they aren't Maasai?

Sincerely,
RobT