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Old 16th September 2010, 12:53 PM   #1
Ron Anderson
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 228
Default African ceremonial axes

What are these and what is their story?

I found them together. They are two really interesting items full of animal figures. The one has a bull head, the other a cobra head. They have geckos and frogs and snakes along the blade. In the axe itself is another animal - perhaps a jackal or a dog.

What I really love about these is that they remind me of ancient bronze works from Medea or Luristan. Except these are not bronze age Eurasia, they're 20th century Africa.

I suspect these are west African but I could be mistaken. I would say Nigeria or Ivory Coast. Again, just a gut feel. Could be central African - Zaire or somesuch. I would be very surprised if they were far North or South of that area.

They may not be that old. I don't know. It is hard to tell with this type of metal. However, I'm sure they're not all that recent.
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