ZULU KNOBKERRY
SOUTH AFRICA, LATE 19TH CENTURY
£400
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 15 October 2019 at 16:00 BST
Description
carved wood and iron studs, long shaft with offset ballhead and two opposing planes
Dimensions
56cm long
Footnote
Provenance:
Private collection, Scotland
Note:
"Knobkerries are probably the most commonly collected of artefacts surviving from European contact with indigenous South African communities. The Zulu people perfected the form by offsetting slightly the ballhead and creating two opposing planes, top and bottom. Some have shallow scalloping which one could read as a stylised headring"
Conru, K. 2002. The Art of Southeastern Africa. Pg. 210.