African axes, try out?

Freddy · 4th December 2004, 07:44 PM

Why not show more African axes. These weapons are rarely seen on the forum.

First two axes from the Mende-tribe in Sierra Leone :

Second picture is of two Songye axes from Congo

The third pic is my best axe. Again from the Songye tribe. All three these axes have a handle covered in monitor skin. This piece is huge : the cutting edge measures 39 cm. The blade weighs about 2 kgs.
Nice detail are the heads carved in the axe blade. In this case, there are 42 small heads.

Tim, about your axes : the first one is definitively South African (Zulu or Swazi). The others perhaps from the Tschwana (Botswana) or the Mangwato (I've seen an example in the book from Fischer & Zirngibl).

4th December 2004, 07:44 PM	#2
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	More African axes Why not show more African axes. These weapons are rarely seen on the forum. First two axes from the Mende-tribe in Sierra Leone : Second picture is of two Songye axes from Congo The third pic is my best axe. Again from the Songye tribe. All three these axes have a handle covered in monitor skin. This piece is huge : the cutting edge measures 39 cm. The blade weighs about 2 kgs. Nice detail are the heads carved in the axe blade. In this case, there are 42 small heads. Tim, about your axes : the first one is definitively South African (Zulu or Swazi). The others perhaps from the Tschwana (Botswana) or the Mangwato (I've seen an example in the book from Fischer & Zirngibl).