An unusual African knife was a big surprise at auction
As part of a newly found interest in African knives, I found an interesting looking knife on an international auction site. The style was unfamiliar to me, and I did some research on the African Weapons web site and concluded it looked most like an Ingessana knife from the Sudan. The auctioneer's estimate was 20–40 GBP. I thought it sounded like worth taking a chance on getting it at that price, and duly bid 40 GBP thinking that should be enough.
Imagine my surprise when it came up and the bids just came rolling in. My bid was left way, way in the dust. The hammer price alone was nearly 20 times the auctioneer's top estimate (not to mention the additional expense of a buyer's premium and shipping)! Quite a boilover.
My question to the African arms collectors here is, what the heck is this thing and why did it attract so much attention?
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