Sword from Angola. Chokwe, Salampasu?

[Tim Simmons]

To muddy the waters a little more. This Kwango sword has many of the discussed features though the blade is more decorated and the Kwango area is the opposite side of Africa to Angola.

[Marc M.]

Yaka, Suku, Tshokwe, Lunda and Kaniok are possibilities. The end of the handle seems to be missing a piece.
regards
Marc

[werecow]

And of course there's also the Yaka knife:

EDIT: Ah, Marc beat me to it.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by werecow

And of course there's also the Yaka knife:

EDIT: Ah, Marc beat me to it.

A shared opinion is always cool.

[Tim Simmons]

Interesting. Museum fur Volkerkunde Africa-sammlung3 Waffen aus Zentral- Afrika.

[Tim Simmons]

With a little research you can find that the Lunda Empire stretched from Angola, Zambia and the Kwango river people in the DRC today. So all suggestions illustrate the extent of cultural influence. What a good place this is.

[gp]

it is a little more than the Lunda empire....

Although I am not native French speaking, the French text expands into more peoples:

"the populations of the cultural connected Lunda-Chokwe and in particular the populations of the Lunda, Chokwe, Yaka, Kaniok, Suku, Songye-Eki living on the border of north Angola, Zambia and the south of the DR Congo between the wooded savannah and pre-forest region use a very beautiful sword,
This weapon has a wooden mount whicth a metal pommel (brass, copper) is conical shaped and rests on an ellipsoid piece streaked with radiating lines"

So it seems many forum members were correct !

[Pertinax]

Originally Posted by Marc M.

Yaka, Suku, Tshokwe, Lunda and Kaniok are possibilities. The end of the handle seems to be missing a piece.
regards
Marc

I also assume that part of the handle could have been broken off. When I receive it, I will figure it out.

Best regards,
Yuri.

[werecow]

I think you may be right. The pommel "stalk" on my own yaka knife is kind of loose. I can't quite make out how it's connected but what seems to be leather around wood is very worn in that part and a bit torn, and there is significant movement between the stalk and the rest of the grip.

[Ian]

I have one that is very close to Tim's museum example. It appears to have some age. The leather is very thin and covers a light wooden sheath. The leather work was well done but has split in places with age.

The blade has a longitudinal groove down the middle on each side, flanked by multiple small linear marks. The metal (bronze?) hilt is constructed similar to other examples shown here. In hand, I estimate the age of this sword at about 100 years, so early 20th C or possibly late 19th C.

The weather was not very cooperative today for photographing today. If anyone needs better quality pics, please let me know.

This one came from a Swiss auction house in Basel. It was listed as a Yaka Ceremonial Sword and said to be called "mbeeli ya phoko."

Item Details

Description

Kurz-Schwert mit Scheide, "mbeeli ya phoko"
Yaka, Suku, DR Kongo
Ohne Sockel / without base
Eisen, Wood, Leder, Bronze. H 66 cm.

Provenienz:
Schweizer Privatsammlung, Genf.

Zeremonialwaffen zeichnen sich durch sorgfältige Herstellung und dekorative Gestaltung, z.B. der Verzierung mit wertvollen Materialien wie Kupfer, Bronze, Elfenbein oder Fell, aus.

Die ursprünglich Funktion ist damit eingeschränkt, so dass eine Verwendung als Kampfwaffe nicht mehr im Vordergrund steht. Vielmehr signalisieren sie den sozialen Status und die Macht des Trägers und sind damit eher Kult-, Prunk-, Würde- und Statuswaffen die auch im Tauschhandel Verwendung fanden.

Weiterführende Literatur:
Cornet, Joseph-Aurelien / Dewey, William Dr. / Dubrunfaut, P. / Elsen, Jan / Felix, Marc L. / Gosseau, Christian / Schoonheyt, Jacques / van Noten, Francis (1992). Beauté fatale. Armes d'Afrique centrale. Galerie du Crédit Communal. Crédit Communal, Bruxelles.

.

[werecow]

Mine is similar as well (seller's pics since it's too dark here to take pictures atm).

[gp]

here are 2 nice Yakas from my collection, although the one on the right has found a new owner ( happy to transfer it to a fellow forum member where it fits better in his collection)