Rare wrist guard "igitembe" · Rwanda, Tutsi · ID: 3040890
Hans Reinmöller, Ratingen, Germany (1994)
Description
wood, middle brown patina, of massive spherical form, striking small central hole which measures 56 mm at its greatest width and gap of only 32 mm, inlaid with 19 small squares and three sun-shaped emblems of copper sheet, contours and connecting lines from small copper cases, slightly dam. (rims), crack, base;
such wrist guards are usually worn on the left wrist, to protect the archer’s forearm from being bruised by the recoil of the bowstring. Such an elaborately decorated “igitembe” would appear to belong to an archer of high rank, perhaps one of the royal bodyguard, as an insignia of office. Only little is known about such wrist guards in the literature. This may in part be due to the fact that they do not look like archers’ wrist guards, and may be taken for bracelets. The opening for the wrist is so narrow and small that it seems almost impossible that the arm of an adult man fits through.
Comparing literature
Phillips, Tom (Hg.), Afrika, Die Kunst eines Kontinents, Berlin 1996, p. 157