African spears and mace

[erlikhan]

I found several nice two headed short spears and a tough wooden mace told as original antique weapons in a dealer. Is there anybody having strong information about black african weapons and can decide if they are antique or not , and their value, from pictures? Should I go and take their pictures?

[capt.smash]

yeah post some pics so we can have a look :)

[erlikhan]

http://www.pbase.com/erlik21/inbox
in this link there are pictures of several spears(1-1,5 mts), one wooden club and one axe. the sewed metal threads are brass or silver. heavily patinated and needs to be cleaned to understand the material. Do you think these are real antique and, which country are they from?
regards

[Freddy]

Hi,

My guess is that these pieces are South African, perhaps Zulu. But I'm not sure of this. There are a lot of tribes (Swazi, Ngoni,etc...) which were influenced by the Zulus. Their weaponry (and tactics) were copied by a lot of people.

The club could be Gogo, from Tanzania. I have a similar one, real heavy. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

The pieces look good to me. I wouldn't clean them too much otherwise you could lose the patina of the blades. When I need to clean, for example a spear from Congo, I gently remove the rust with a copper brush. Afterwards I oil the blade to protect it. Most of the time, the original blackening which is so often seen on African blades returns. That's the way these weapons should look.

[tom hyle]

Zulu, etc. spears, the butt spikes and full-wrapped handles are unuwual. Look "real" and old to me. I know unuwual ain't a word; the key for the letter before "t" in the alphabet got a little object under it though, and won't work right.....

[erlikhan]

Thank you pals. And,how much would be good, reasonable price for me to pay for them according to market averages? If to mention prices is not appropriate in forum, can you pls send me private msg to give an idea as i have none?

[erlikhan]

Nobody has idea about their values?

[Andrew]

If anyone has an opinion on value to share with erlikhan, please contact him via email or PM.

(Personally, I have no idea, erlikhan. Sorry. :o )

[artotec]

Hi I think I know what are those. Are they available for sell? I woud like a spear. I am not %100 but I think they are Shona tribe from South East region.
Let me know if you want to kow more.

[artotec]

Thank you pals. And,how much would be good, reasonable price for me to pay for them according to market averages? If to mention prices is not appropriate in forum, can you pls send me private msg to give an idea as i have none?
If you pay some less than [EDITED BY MODERATOR] will be ok for the spears (each)the club [EDITED BY MODERATOR] and the axe [EDITED BY MODERATOR].I would like a spear like that. Please let me know...

[erlikhan]

thanks for the info. you mean south east region of the continent?
they are for sale here in Istanbul by a dealer and wouldnt go lower than around 180-200s for each spear i guess.

[Andrew]

If you pay some less than [EDITED BY MODERATOR] will be ok for the spears (each)the club [EDITED BY MODERATOR] and the axe [EDITED BY MODERATOR].I would like a spear like that. Please let me know...


Welcome to the forum, artotec. Before posting further, please refer to my post immediately above yours. Also, please read this thread:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4


Appraisals are not permitted on this forum.

[artotec]

Does he has any small knifes with wire like the spears?If you want them for yourself (the spears) is a good price I guess. Try to bargain if you are in Istanbul. I mean if the asking price is one try starting by offering half. This is the way it goes there. If you buy more than one make a point to the seller etc.