'Face' club (?)

kronckew · 8th February 2015, 07:53 PM

heading my way: i liked the face. i have almost too many zulu knobkerries, none with faces tho. missed one yesterday that had deep hollowed out facets that looked cool.

anyway, this one 24 in. long, sold as a 'zulu' knobkerry. has the expected flared but, but has a lanyard hole.i suspect it's from another tribe. but which?

VANDOO · 8th February 2015, 09:37 PM

I BOUGHT SOMETHING SIMILAR A WHILE BACK IT WAS RECENTLY MADE AND HAD ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES TO APPEAL TO THE TOURIST, BUT THE WORKMANSHIP AND FLASH GOT TO ME SO I GOT IT. THOUGH IT WASN'T OLD IT WAS WORTH THE $ AS THE WORKMANSHIP AND FLASH WERE EXCELLENT. MY EXAMPLE WAS SAID TO BE A DINKA WAR CLUB. HERE IS A PICTURE FOR COMPARISON.
My example does have the offset head and is 22.5 inches long, ebony with fancy brass inlay.

kronckew · 9th February 2015, 12:15 AM

some facial similarities for sure, how long is yours? the head looks like it's offset tho, like a maasi rungu, is it?

these simple, impressionistic carvings accomplish a lot with a few lines. a more elaborate carving would however, while detracting from function, make it easier to figure out where it came from. especially hard just from photos.

part of the fun tho.

i did see a wiki article on zulu knobkerries that mentioned they did sometimes carve faces on them, symbolic with specific meanings. wish it had said more. also saw one from the rand tribe and one from tanzania that were similar to ours. none came up in my search on dinka clubs tho. did see one that lookerd like an ungrooved version of the so. sudanese club i posted earlier with the fur collar.

vendor had another one listed as a zulu knobkerry that im did not bid on, the crack was a bit more than i wanted to live with. it did go for a bit less than i paid. bit shorter too.

kronckew · 10th February 2015, 11:25 AM

club arrived today, as described above. weight is 410 grams, wood is more of a dark brown than black.

vanadoo - i can now see the photo of your club with the offset head (couldn't earlier), very like a maasi rungu, not much like a dinka. the gold wire inlays show up better (have you updated the photos or are my eyes working better today?) anyway, yours is a classy club for a person of some importance and wealth.

mine looks more zulu-ish, the lanyard hole (non-zulu-ish) has a noticeable groove worn from a lanyard radially from the hole, at a slight angle from the haft centerline. the hole, if added by a more recent owner, has been there for a good while.

8th February 2015, 07:53 PM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,181	'Face' club (?) heading my way: i liked the face. i have almost too many zulu knobkerries, none with faces tho. missed one yesterday that had deep hollowed out facets that looked cool. anyway, this one 24 in. long, sold as a 'zulu' knobkerry. has the expected flared but, but has a lanyard hole.i suspect it's from another tribe. but which? Attached Images

8th February 2015, 09:37 PM	#2
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	I BOUGHT SOMETHING SIMILAR A WHILE BACK IT WAS RECENTLY MADE AND HAD ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES TO APPEAL TO THE TOURIST, BUT THE WORKMANSHIP AND FLASH GOT TO ME SO I GOT IT. THOUGH IT WASN'T OLD IT WAS WORTH THE $ AS THE WORKMANSHIP AND FLASH WERE EXCELLENT. MY EXAMPLE WAS SAID TO BE A DINKA WAR CLUB. HERE IS A PICTURE FOR COMPARISON. My example does have the offset head and is 22.5 inches long, ebony with fancy brass inlay. Attached Images Last edited by VANDOO; 9th February 2015 at 02:58 AM.

9th February 2015, 12:15 AM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,181	some facial similarities for sure, how long is yours? the head looks like it's offset tho, like a maasi rungu, is it? these simple, impressionistic carvings accomplish a lot with a few lines. a more elaborate carving would however, while detracting from function, make it easier to figure out where it came from. especially hard just from photos. part of the fun tho. i did see a wiki article on zulu knobkerries that mentioned they did sometimes carve faces on them, symbolic with specific meanings. wish it had said more. also saw one from the rand tribe and one from tanzania that were similar to ours. none came up in my search on dinka clubs tho. did see one that lookerd like an ungrooved version of the so. sudanese club i posted earlier with the fur collar. vendor had another one listed as a zulu knobkerry that im did not bid on, the crack was a bit more than i wanted to live with. it did go for a bit less than i paid. bit shorter too. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 9th February 2015 at 12:47 AM.

10th February 2015, 11:25 AM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,181	club arrived today, as described above. weight is 410 grams, wood is more of a dark brown than black. vanadoo - i can now see the photo of your club with the offset head (couldn't earlier), very like a maasi rungu, not much like a dinka. the gold wire inlays show up better (have you updated the photos or are my eyes working better today?) anyway, yours is a classy club for a person of some importance and wealth. mine looks more zulu-ish, the lanyard hole (non-zulu-ish) has a noticeable groove worn from a lanyard radially from the hole, at a slight angle from the haft centerline. the hole, if added by a more recent owner, has been there for a good while.