which tribe?

Lew · 5th April 2005, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

This was the first thing I bought this year back in february.I know it is a Congo spear but can not find any pictures of this type of spear to say which tribal region it may come from.Any opinions wold be helpful.This might be one for Freddy.Oa length 172cm, blade length 35cm.Thanks Tim

Hi Tim

Very nice spear! I agree with you it's from the Congo possibly Kuba?

Lew

Freddy · 5th April 2005, 07:17 PM

Hi Tim. Indeed a very nice spear.

I searched in some of my books and this is the result :

IJzerwerk van Centraal-Afrika (Ironwork from Central Africa) by H. Westerdijk

This type of spear comes from the Northwestern part of Congo and is attributed to the following tribes : Ngbandi, Bati, Benge Poto, Ngombe and "Gens d'eau". H. Westerdijk states that this type of spear blade is found over a wide area as the blades were probably traded. Each tribe fitted their own type of shaft to them.

Dodelijk mooi / Beauté fatale (Deadly beauty), an exhibition catalogue from the 80's

A similar spear is pictured in this catalogue, attributed to the Ngbaka, Ngome and Doko-tribes in Congo.

These types of spears are used for thrusting, not for throwing. You might have noticed that your spear is quite heavy. The idea is to thrust the spear through the shield of the opponent. This is also the reason why a lot of the thrusting spears from the Congo Basin have long and heavy spear blades.

Here are 4 similar spears from my collection. All have a spear blade with a similar shape and long neck. You might notice that the butts differ. Some end in a spike, others are blunt. But all have some kind of metal weight added to counterbalance the heavy spear blade. Often there's also iron or copper winding on the shaft. The grip of the spear can be carved on the more luxurious ones.
Look at the spear, first from the left, this one has a butt which has the shape of a small spear head.
Some even have a bell attached to the butt.

The total length of my spears varies between 1m58 and 1m86.
The lenght of the spear blades is between 20 and 44 cm
The length of the spear blades with 'neck' is between 65 and 86,5 cm.

I hope the pictures are clear enough.

Freddy · 5th April 2005, 07:19 PM

In a german book, Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika (Weapons from Central Africa) from the Etnografic Museum in Frankfurt am Main, I found two drawings with similar spears.

I hope this answers your question, Tim. The books, I quoted, are unfortunately not published in english (only in german, dutch and french). They are all not easily obtainable. If you can get them, don't hesitate. They are a great help for identifying your congolese weapons. Freddy

Freddy · 5th April 2005, 07:26 PM

Lew,

Kuba spears usually have small diamond shaped heads. Sorry, but I can't show you a picture.

Still need a Kuba spear for my collection

Freddy

5th April 2005, 07:26 PM	#4
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	Kuba spears Lew, Kuba spears usually have small diamond shaped heads. Sorry, but I can't show you a picture. Still need a Kuba spear for my collection Freddy

5th April 2005, 07:17 PM	#2
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	Hi Tim. Indeed a very nice spear. I searched in some of my books and this is the result : IJzerwerk van Centraal-Afrika (Ironwork from Central Africa) by H. Westerdijk This type of spear comes from the Northwestern part of Congo and is attributed to the following tribes : Ngbandi, Bati, Benge Poto, Ngombe and "Gens d'eau". H. Westerdijk states that this type of spear blade is found over a wide area as the blades were probably traded. Each tribe fitted their own type of shaft to them. Dodelijk mooi / Beauté fatale (Deadly beauty), an exhibition catalogue from the 80's A similar spear is pictured in this catalogue, attributed to the Ngbaka, Ngome and Doko-tribes in Congo. These types of spears are used for thrusting, not for throwing. You might have noticed that your spear is quite heavy. The idea is to thrust the spear through the shield of the opponent. This is also the reason why a lot of the thrusting spears from the Congo Basin have long and heavy spear blades. Here are 4 similar spears from my collection. All have a spear blade with a similar shape and long neck. You might notice that the butts differ. Some end in a spike, others are blunt. But all have some kind of metal weight added to counterbalance the heavy spear blade. Often there's also iron or copper winding on the shaft. The grip of the spear can be carved on the more luxurious ones. Look at the spear, first from the left, this one has a butt which has the shape of a small spear head. Some even have a bell attached to the butt. The total length of my spears varies between 1m58 and 1m86. The lenght of the spear blades is between 20 and 44 cm The length of the spear blades with 'neck' is between 65 and 86,5 cm. I hope the pictures are clear enough.

5th April 2005, 07:19 PM	#3
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	In a german book, Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika (Weapons from Central Africa) from the Etnografic Museum in Frankfurt am Main, I found two drawings with similar spears. I hope this answers your question, Tim. The books, I quoted, are unfortunately not published in english (only in german, dutch and french). They are all not easily obtainable. If you can get them, don't hesitate. They are a great help for identifying your congolese weapons. Freddy