African Bow

Flavio · 14th October 2005, 08:42 PM

Hello everybody, here are some pictures of an african bow that i have. The seller told me that is a North Congo bow and i see in a museum some magbetu bows that has a leather strip like this one. Any comment is welcome. Thank you

Tim Simmons · 14th October 2005, 08:55 PM

Very nice. Do not try to impress your friends with how well it works. I have done so in the past and have been lucky to get away with just a snapped string which is bad enough when you have such a complete bow, you also look a little silly snapping your own string

. Tim

fearn · 15th October 2005, 12:51 AM

It is a nice bow, and I'm suspect that you've positioned it upside down. Either the grip has slipped, or it's an asymmetric bow a la Japan.

The other thing is that the some Africans tend to like to have a long end to their bow strings that they wrap repeatedly around one end. I've seen it both in berimbaus (the musical bows in Capoeira) and in west African bows. That said, I would be interested to see a picture of the other end. I'm curious about whether there's a groove at that tip, or whether it is knotted in the proper place.

Neat piece!

F

Flavio · 15th October 2005, 02:37 PM

Hello Fearn, here are some other pictures of the other end: there isn’t a groove but, as you said, the string is wrapped repeatedly. As you can see in the third picture there is, lightly under where now is the knot, an impression of the string. This is the sign that the other end is the part that was assembled for second.
For the leather strip I don’t think that is “the grip” and so it doesn’t slipped: in the mangbetu bows that I have seen the leather strip is in the exact position. Maybe is a grip but only for the stripping of the bow, to avoid that the bow slides in that moment. In the picture from Spring’s book (African arms and armour) is portrayed a man that stringed his bow. In the other pictures some ways to stringed bows and some African bows from the book Waffen aus Zentral Afrika

fearn · 15th October 2005, 05:48 PM

Isn't that a fun book? Thanks for showing the other end, Flavio.

F

slow · 25th October 2005, 10:14 PM

A very nice bow, Flavio.

Do you have any measurements? (overall length, thickness/width of limbs, brace height) Just curious..

14th October 2005, 08:42 PM	#1
Flavio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Italia Posts: 1,243	African Bow Hello everybody, here are some pictures of an african bow that i have. The seller told me that is a North Congo bow and i see in a museum some magbetu bows that has a leather strip like this one. Any comment is welcome. Thank you Attached Images

15th October 2005, 02:37 PM	#4
Flavio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Italia Posts: 1,243	Hello Fearn, here are some other pictures of the other end: there isn’t a groove but, as you said, the string is wrapped repeatedly. As you can see in the third picture there is, lightly under where now is the knot, an impression of the string. This is the sign that the other end is the part that was assembled for second. For the leather strip I don’t think that is “the grip” and so it doesn’t slipped: in the mangbetu bows that I have seen the leather strip is in the exact position. Maybe is a grip but only for the stripping of the bow, to avoid that the bow slides in that moment. In the picture from Spring’s book (African arms and armour) is portrayed a man that stringed his bow. In the other pictures some ways to stringed bows and some African bows from the book Waffen aus Zentral Afrika Attached Images

14th October 2005, 08:55 PM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,807	Very nice. Do not try to impress your friends with how well it works. I have done so in the past and have been lucky to get away with just a snapped string which is bad enough when you have such a complete bow, you also look a little silly snapping your own string . Tim

15th October 2005, 12:51 AM	#3
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	It is a nice bow, and I'm suspect that you've positioned it upside down. Either the grip has slipped, or it's an asymmetric bow a la Japan. The other thing is that the some Africans tend to like to have a long end to their bow strings that they wrap repeatedly around one end. I've seen it both in berimbaus (the musical bows in Capoeira) and in west African bows. That said, I would be interested to see a picture of the other end. I'm curious about whether there's a groove at that tip, or whether it is knotted in the proper place. Neat piece! F

15th October 2005, 05:48 PM	#5
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Isn't that a fun book? Thanks for showing the other end, Flavio. F

25th October 2005, 10:14 PM	#6
slow Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 3	A very nice bow, Flavio. Do you have any measurements? (overall length, thickness/width of limbs, brace height) Just curious..