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Details
LOT 1085
African Yaka Sword with Scabbard
19TH CENTURY A.D.
27 1/2 in. (684 grams, 70 cm long).
An iron sword with leaf-shaped blade decorated with a simple punched line punched and zig-zag ornament; the hilt partially covered with leather with stitched junctions, twisted iron wire 'cage' and elongated iron pommel; accompanied by a fragmentary wooden leather-covered sheath with spatulate end. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired locally by donation.
Property of Sense Charity, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Literature
Cf. Spring, C., African Arms and Armour, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993, p.65.
Footnotes
The Yaka are an African ethnic group found in the south-west of the DRC, with the Angolan border to their west. The Yaka people were historically known for their excellent diplomatic and military abilities which enabled them to found the Yaka kingdom in the 17th century. One of their distinctive weapons was a long, straight sabre which developed into an increasingly elaborate style during the 19th and 20th centuries A.D.
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