Rare small dagger with scabbard, before 1918 · Namibia, Ovambo, Ondonga · ID: 3046105
sold
EUR 2,500
Provenance
Old German Colonial CollectionSize
L: 12 cm (knife)
B: 36 cm (sheath)
L: 4.7 inch (knife)
B: 14.2 inch (sheath)
Description
wood, sheet copper, steel, carved eyelet on the backside for attachment, base
According to a note in the catalog “Die ethnographische Südwestafrika-Sammlung Hans Schinz 1884-86”, these knives were worn on leather belts around the hips. Chiefs of the Ondonga tribe conferred these prominent daggers on sentries as a special honor.
Comparing literature
Szalay, Miklós, Die ethnographische Südwestafrika-Sammlung Hans Schinz 1884-1886, Zürich 1979, p. 114 f.