Needing help on Songye axe

[fernando]

Can i have some help here, Gentlemen ?

The first and usual question would be the age; very late 19th century ?
The second is the hide that covers the handle; usualy quoted to be (monitor) lizard, it can also be seen quoted as snake skin, namely in the 'African Ethnographic Collection' website.
Finally the human heads:
On one hand, what do they actualy represent ? Are they replicas of Kifwebe masks ? Do they equate to the number of villages under the chieftain's authority ?
On the other hand, are the heads of one side to be summed to those in the other ? Freddy D'hont notices that this example, having three faces in one side and two in the other, which makes it a uneven number, is not usually seen.
Coments will be so much welcome.
Fernando

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