Flyssa (Flissa) Knife
Iflissen Lebhar Tribal Confederacy
Kabylia, Regency of Algiers - Kabylia, French Algeria (Algeria)
First half of the 19th century
Steel, wood, brass
Blade: 30cm
Hilt & Blade: 41,6cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2010
Collection Number: 11

Ex. Canadian Art Market (2010)

The flissa is the traditional weapon of the Iflissen Kabyles, an ethnic Berber group originating from the Atlas Mountain Range in Northern Algeria. Their weapons range from small knives to very long swords, most of which are very consistent in design using brass inlays and geometric motifs. This example is an early knife version. Older flyssas have a more solid, simpler construction, have a better weight balance, and are usually less fanciful than their later counterparts.

The single- edged steel blade is straight before slightly curving upwards to the point. Inlaid with traditional geometric brass motifs, scrolls, and triangles for the entirety of blade's length. Brass is also inlaid on the iron bolster and the spine with swirls before transitioning into engraved zig- zagged lines. Wooden hilt covered in a brass sheet engraved with geometric triangles and linear designs. The pommel is in the classic zoomorphic shape. An early example of the type with great quality and patina. On a personal note, this is the first ethnographic weapon that I purchased that initiated the start to the collection that grew into what it is today.

[1] Claude, Eric. 2020. “The Small Catalog of Moroccan and Algerian Edged Weapons”. Pages 170 – 173, 214, 218 – 219

[2] Spring, Christopher. 1993.  “African Arms and Armor”. Pages 21 -24

[3] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/31765

[4] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af-3820-a

[5] http://www.oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=6046

[6] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?5-flyssa-dagger-30-cm-ss