Large Sickle Blade
Bandia / Benge / Boa / Nsakara / Yakoma, D.R. Congo / C.A. Republic
Iron, wood, vegetal fiber
19th century

Large sickle weapons comparable to this example pervaded the northern D.R. Congo and Central African Republic. This variation was most commonly found among the Bandia, Benge, Boa, Nsakara, Yakoma, but was also known to be used by the Ngbandi and Binji. 

In the evolutionary context of types, this weapon is certainly one of the more important. With this weapon, we see the point at which a knife sits on the verge of becomg a throwing knife. Indeed, this represents one of the first African knife types where the front side was heavily textured, and the back side was deliberately kept completely flat, which – like the wing of an airplane – is a significant contributor to its aerodynamics (Elsen, Tribal Arms Monographs, Vol. 1 No. 1, 1996, Fatal Beauty: Traditional Weapons from Central Africa, 2013).

Collected by Alexovi Lenain from Farciennes, Belgium. Lenain worked in Western D.R. Congo for the Compagnie du Kasai 1906-09, and 1910-12.

25.25 in :: 64 cm

InventoryID #13-3039

Price on Request