Zande throwing knife
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1884.25.1
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
?Zande
Date Made:
By February 1858
Materials:
Iron Metal , Plant Fibre
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Bound , Twisted
Dimensions:
L = 454 mm, W handle = 21.7 mm, W central blade 27.3 mm, th. cutting edge 0.1 mm [RTS 20/2/2004]
Other Owners:
Collected by John Petherick in 1858 and shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps via auction as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
1858
Description:
Iron throwing knife consisting of an iron plate tang, rectangular in section, covered with thin twisted plant fibre string binding, tightly interwoven to form a solid, padded grip.
There are at least two layers of binding, possibly more, with vertical strands visible running down the length of the handle on one side only.
The surface has a glossy, dark brown colour (Pantone black 4C) that differs from the natural yellowish brown colour of the fibre itself (Pantone 466C), which is visible in places, and it seems likely that the grip has been coated with an unknown substance, possibly to harden or secure it.
This handle extends up to the point where the lower angled blade joins the body.
The end of the handle is rounded, but it retains the rectangular section of the tang beneath.
The metal body, which is an opaque silvery grey in colour (Pantone 421C), continues as a single piece from the tang, but widens slightly, with the inner edge being thinner than the outer one, although this is not particularly sharp.
Three additional blades are angled away from this central stem, and were probably separate pieces that have been forged into place.
The lower one of these projects at an acute angle from the body just above the handle; the edges of this blade are bevelled to slope down to a cutting edge on all sides.
The inside edge is straight, curving around at the tip, then the blade widens slightly until it reaches a rounded, projecting spur, with a second, smaller, convex spur just below; this second spur does not have a sharpened edge (unlike that seen on 1934.8.120).
A second blade projects at right angles from the end of the central blade; this also tapers to a rounded tip, with the outer edge being concave sided and the inner edge convex; a third, broader blade continues from the end of the central blade, with a sharply pointed triangular spur and then a short, more strongly curved blade, with convex outer and concave inner edge.
The surfaces of these blades are also bevelled down to their cutting edges, which run around all sides.
The underside of the knife is flat, with tool marks around the flat cutting edges where the metal has been hammered thin; this is visible on all blades, except the central one.
Complete, and intact, there are no obvious nicks in the blades to suggest that this weapon had seen much use.
Length 454 mm, width of handle 21.7 mm, thickness of handle 19.5 mm; width of central blade 27.3 mm, thickness of central blade 3 mm; length of lower angled blade 215 mm, width of lower angled blade 42.3 mm; length across second and third blades 264 mm, width of second blade 44 mm, width of third blade, including spur, 101.3 mm, and thickness at cutting edges 0.1 mm.
Collected by John Petherick, a businessman who lived in Khartoum from 1853 to 1858, mounting several trading expeditions into the Sudanese interior during this period. He entered Zande territory for the first time on 24th February 1858, while on his fifth such expedition, visiting the villages of Mundo, Kangamboo and Baranj. This object was probably collected during that trip, as Petherick did not venture into this region again. His collection was shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps via auction as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This auction contained at least 5 throwing knives or projectile weapons, attributed variously to the Zande, Murle and Mundu. Pitt Rivers sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874. It was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, and then transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
This object represents the southern type of throwing knife, which is found in northern Gabon, and from eastern Cameroon almost to the White Nile; it was used by the Zande and by groups who fell under their influence, including the Adio, Bongo and Kreish. This specific variety, which corresponds to Westerdijk's type SP VIII.1A, is found in the region inhabited by the Zande and neighbouring groups in the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. This is supposedly the form which is known to the Zande as kpinga, although Powell-Cotton’s informants gave it the name sapa (P. Westerdijk 1988, The African Throwing Knife, p. 207-8). The knives could be hung from a disc on the back of the shield (C. Spring, African Arms and Armour, pp 69-70; 79-80). In Petherick's discussions of the Zande, whom he encountered in 1858, they were described as carrying two or three throwing knives at a time in this way; he gives the Zande term for this weapon (a 'trombash') as gangoo (Petherick 1861, Egypt, the Sudan and Central Africa, p. 469, p. 481). He also describes their use: 'The iron weapon, when employed, is thrown with great force, and in such a manner as to revolve upon its centre when spinning through the air' (J. Petherick, 'On the arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa bordering on the White Nile', Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV no. 13, p. 176).
This may be the same knife illustrated in Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV no. 13, 1861, fig. 18; J. & K. Petherick, Travels in Central Africa Volume I, 1869, p. 281, J.G. Wood, The Natural History of Man Volume I, 1868, p. 492, fig. 1, and in Pitt Rivers, Catalogue of the Anthropological Collection lent by Colonel Lane Fox for Exhibition in the Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, June 1874, parts I and II, fig. 22 (although the handle grip has been inaccurately drawn). It also appears in Petherick’s unpublished sketchbook (Wellcome Library MS 5789, page 18, with caption 'Neam Nam').
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected by John Petherick, a businessman who lived in Khartoum from 1853 to 1858, mounting several trading expeditions into the Sudanese interior during this period. He entered Zande territory for the first time on 24th February 1858, while on his fifth such expedition, visiting the villages of Mundo, Kangamboo and Baranj. This object was probably collected during that trip, as Petherick did not venture into this region again. His collection was shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps via auction as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This auction contained at least 5 throwing knives or projectile weapons, attributed variously to the Zande, Murle and Mundu. Pitt Rivers sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874. It was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, and then transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
This object represents the southern type of throwing knife, which is found in northern Gabon, and from eastern Cameroon almost to the White Nile; it was used by the Zande and by groups who fell under their influence, including the Adio, Bongo and Kreish. This specific variety, which corresponds to Westerdijk's type SP VIII.1A, is found in the region inhabited by the Zande and neighbouring groups in the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. This is supposedly the form which is known to the Zande as kpinga, although Powell-Cotton’s informants gave it the name sapa (P. Westerdijk 1988, The African Throwing Knife, p. 207-8). The knives could be hung from a disc on the back of the shield (C. Spring, African Arms and Armour, pp 69-70; 79-80). In Petherick's discussions of the Zande, whom he encountered in 1858, they were described as carrying two or three throwing knives at a time in this way; he gives the Zande term for this weapon (a 'trombash') as gangoo (Petherick 1861, Egypt, the Sudan and Central Africa, p. 469, p. 481). He also describes their use: 'The iron weapon, when employed, is thrown with great force, and in such a manner as to revolve upon its centre when spinning through the air' (J. Petherick, 'On the arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa bordering on the White Nile', Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV no. 13, p. 176).
This may be the same knife illustrated in Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV no. 13, 1861, fig. 18; J. & K. Petherick, Travels in Central Africa Volume I, 1869, p. 281, J.G. Wood, The Natural History of Man Volume I, 1868, p. 492, fig. 1, and in Pitt Rivers, Catalogue of the Anthropological Collection lent by Colonel Lane Fox for Exhibition in the Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, June 1874, parts I and II, fig. 22 (although the handle grip has been inaccurately drawn). It also appears in Petherick’s unpublished sketchbook (Wellcome Library MS 5789, page 18, with caption 'Neam Nam').
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book IV entry
[insert] 1994.25 [end insert]
THROWING KNIVES & ALLIED CHOPPING KNIVES, BOOMERANGS
[insert] 1 [end insert] - 183 - Throwing-knife with scythe-like blade & crescent top ?AZANDE, C.
AFRICA.
Petherick coll.
(black 128).
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [p. 66a] - 183 [Drawing].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [p. 195] - [insert] 1884.25.1 [end insert] Throwing knife [Drawing] C[ENTRAL]. AFRICA ?AZANDE (PR (183) black 128).
Black book entry [p. 7] - 128-30. Iron boomerangs. Central Africa. (183-?185) [insert] 1884.25.1, 2, 3 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 204] - Development of boomerangs, Australian, African & Indian. [p. 206] - Iron projectile. Central Africa. 183. Screen 6 [cases] 248 & 249.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 31] - Nos 180 to 186, Fig. 22, are iron implements called Hunga Munga by the negro tribes south of Lake Tchad; " danisco" by the Marghi, " goleyo" by the Musgu, and " njiga" by the Bagirmi; showing that the names for these weapons vary as much in Africa as in Australia, where nearly every tribe has a different name for the boomerang [footnote about material art and language]. These African iron weapons are thrown [p. 32] with a rotatory motion, and inflict bad wounds with their projecting blades: they vary constantly in form, as may be seen by the specimens here exhibited, and their use extends across Africa from the Upper Nile on the east through Central Africa by Lake Tchad to the negroes of the Gaboon in West Africa. Here also as in parts of Central Africa, these weapons assume the form of a bird's head, as is shown in the specimens from these regions, Nos 187 and 188, Figs 23 and 24, where the triangular opening in the blade represents the eye of the bird. This practice of adopting the forms of birds and animals' heads when the resemblance is suggested by any of the varieties through which a weapon passes, is one to which we shall have to draw attention in describing the war weapons from other localities. [p. 33] SCREEN 6. [p. 36] MODERN AFRICAN IRON BOOMERANGS. 183 to 185. Iron projectile called Hunga Munga, in Central Africa, showing varieties of form, but identical in principle. Obtained by Petherick from the White Nile. Fig. 22 [note that 1884.25.1 is not the illustrated example, RTS 20/2/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 3/2/2004].
Written on object - WHITE NILE CENT. AFRICA. PETHERICK COLL. P.R. 183 [white ink] ?AZANDE 1884.25.1 Black (128) [black ink; RTS 20/2/2004].
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [p. 66a] - 183 [Drawing].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [p. 195] - [insert] 1884.25.1 [end insert] Throwing knife [Drawing] C[ENTRAL]. AFRICA ?AZANDE (PR (183) black 128).
Black book entry [p. 7] - 128-30. Iron boomerangs. Central Africa. (183-?185) [insert] 1884.25.1, 2, 3 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 204] - Development of boomerangs, Australian, African & Indian. [p. 206] - Iron projectile. Central Africa. 183. Screen 6 [cases] 248 & 249.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 31] - Nos 180 to 186, Fig. 22, are iron implements called Hunga Munga by the negro tribes south of Lake Tchad; " danisco" by the Marghi, " goleyo" by the Musgu, and " njiga" by the Bagirmi; showing that the names for these weapons vary as much in Africa as in Australia, where nearly every tribe has a different name for the boomerang [footnote about material art and language]. These African iron weapons are thrown [p. 32] with a rotatory motion, and inflict bad wounds with their projecting blades: they vary constantly in form, as may be seen by the specimens here exhibited, and their use extends across Africa from the Upper Nile on the east through Central Africa by Lake Tchad to the negroes of the Gaboon in West Africa. Here also as in parts of Central Africa, these weapons assume the form of a bird's head, as is shown in the specimens from these regions, Nos 187 and 188, Figs 23 and 24, where the triangular opening in the blade represents the eye of the bird. This practice of adopting the forms of birds and animals' heads when the resemblance is suggested by any of the varieties through which a weapon passes, is one to which we shall have to draw attention in describing the war weapons from other localities. [p. 33] SCREEN 6. [p. 36] MODERN AFRICAN IRON BOOMERANGS. 183 to 185. Iron projectile called Hunga Munga, in Central Africa, showing varieties of form, but identical in principle. Obtained by Petherick from the White Nile. Fig. 22 [note that 1884.25.1 is not the illustrated example, RTS 20/2/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 3/2/2004].
Written on object - WHITE NILE CENT. AFRICA. PETHERICK COLL. P.R. 183 [white ink] ?AZANDE 1884.25.1 Black (128) [black ink; RTS 20/2/2004].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A) [AP]. Former display label - ?AZANDE, WHITE NILE, C.
AFRICA, Petherick coll., P.R.
coll.
[stored in RDF, RTS 18/5/2005]. Loaned to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London for the exhibition Inventing New Britain: The Victorian Vision, from 5 April to 29 July 2001 [JC 5/7/2000; 20/3/2001].
Publication History:
This may be the same knife illustrated in Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV no.
13, 1861, fig.
18; J.
& K.
Petherick, Travels in Central Africa Volume I, 1869, p.
281, J.G.
Wood, The Natural History of Man Volume I, 1868, p.
492, fig.
1, and in Pitt Rivers, Catalogue of the Anthropological Collection lent by Colonel Lane Fox for Exhibition in the Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, June 1874, parts I and II, fig.
22 (although the handle grip has been inaccurately drawn) [RTS 20/2/2004].
