Cult hatchet, ca. 1920-1940 · D. R. Congo, Songye · ID: 3041213
sold
EUR 500
Provenance
Swedish Collection, Stockholm (2005)Size
H: 36,5 cm
H: 14.4 inch
Description
copper, copper sheet, elaborate blade with six drillings, punched ornaments and raised human face at each side, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion;
copper is tough and maleable but in a critical temperature zone during heating it is difficult to work with, and gives no signs of being near burning. For this reason the copper hatchets represent technical masterpieces which no European blacksmith would light-heartedly try to imitate.
Comparing literature
Fischer, Werner & Manfred A. Zirngibl, Afrikanische Waffen, Passau 1978, p. 166, ill. 301