African Dagger?

[Johan van Zyl]

Thank you, Robert, that sounds totally credible. Those makers probably developed a lot of skill by doing this technique many times over.

I'm thinking that these so-called African knives are hard to identify because they were crafted in a rural tribal society where there were no smiths catering for the needs of the tribe. It was every man for himself: you needed a knife - you made it! Conversely, in old Nepal you had the kamis who made kukris for their customers. They used a forge of sorts and employed assistents for the more menial tasks. I'm thinking they made kukri-making more of an industry than the makers of this African knife. In Indonesia the empus made kerisses likewise. I think the African tribal maker/craftsman only had what nature provided and what metal was available to make a dagger or knife, and then mostly for himself and probably a small number of friends less talented than he. So what we have then, is a relatively large number of makers, each putting his own signature style on his work.

What I've written above is all conjecture on my part. I don't have a collection of African blades for scrutiny and comparison. I hope forum members will set me straight. (But if I'm correct, it means African knives are very hard to pinpoint culturally and geographically. )

Johan

[Pieje]

North Africa.

[Iain]

Looks like the sort of small knife common to Mali and Niger, particularly the leatherwork strikes me as from that area.

[Johan van Zyl]

Thank you, Pieje and Iain. Could you perhaps be so kind as to post a pic of one of your blades to show the resemblance?

Pieje, why do you believe this blade to be North African? Do you see features that help to identify it as such and no other? North Africa is a vast area.

Johan (gratefully)

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

Thank you, Pieje and Iain. Could you perhaps be so kind as to post a pic of one of your blades to show the resemblance?

Pieje, why do you believe this blade to be North African? Do you see features that help to identify it as such and no other? North Africa is a vast area.

Johan (gratefully)

Hi Johan,

I'd have a go through the Pitts River Museum online collections. I don't really collect these myself, however I'm confident its from Northern Nigeria, Mali or Niger, generally speaking from a Hausa area.

See the link below for a similar example from Kano.
http://objects.prm.ox.ac.uk/pages/PRMUID78116.html

[Pieje]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

Thank you, Pieje and Iain. Could you perhaps be so kind as to post a pic of one of your blades to show the resemblance?

Pieje, why do you believe this blade to be North African? Do you see features that help to identify it as such and no other? North Africa is a vast area.

Johan (gratefully)

Same for me, I only collect central African knives. But I'm also confident yours is from above that region, thus North Africa. The use of leatherwork is a typical feature.

I had a look in the database of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris:
http://collections.quaibranly.fr/pod...2-38a41b633408

More similar knives are in the database when searching for "Mali", "Niger", "Hausa" etc.