2 old African spears straight from the junkshop

Freddy · 29th August 2006, 10:54 AM

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.

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

29th August 2006, 10:54 AM	#1
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	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. 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