Tetela Knife
Tetela, Genya, Lokele, Soko, Mbole, Topoke, Ngandu, or neighboring tribes
Lusambo - Upper Congo River Region, Kasaï District - Tshopo District- Aruwimi District, Congo Free State - Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Late 19th - Early 20th century (ca. 1890 - 1925)
Iron, wood, copper, brass
Blade: 25,4cm
Hilt & Blade: 33,7cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2022
Collection Number: 278

Ex. Rick Stroud (RSWORD): Raleigh, North Carolina, USA (2022)

A small currency knife from the Tetela or surrounding neighbors of the Congo. This example is slightly smaller in size at 10", compared to the average of 15" - 16", but with great detail within the blade.

The double-edged steel blade is flared at the base before tapering inward to a spear point. Both sides of the blade are heavily incised with fine linear patterns extending the entire length of the blade. The decorations are offset on the reverse side.

Cylindrical wooden carved hilt, bound in brass strips in the center, and copper strips on the outside. The top copper strip is loose, while the bottom is now missing. Diamond- shaped iron protrusion at the base of the pommel. A smaller than average example but with great detailed patterns to the blade.

Photogaph 14: A chief from the Yanonghe Tribe, a subgroup of the Lokele. Original photograph taken by Captain J. Th. Faerch, 1937.

[1] Fischer, Werner, Zirngibl, Manfred. “African Weapons”, 1978, Page 121, Cat. 212

[2] W. O. Oldman, “Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnographic Specimens”, December 1904: List No. 21; Item #13 (4368)

[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1901-0608-42-a

[4] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af-5909

[5] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1950-21-14

[6] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1979-01-1710

[7] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/141251

[8] https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/827144

[9] https://oriental-arms.com/index.php?id_product=888&rewrite=rare-dagger-of-the-tetela-with-pommel-weight&controller=product (For Sale $275 February 2024)

[10] http://oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=6662

[11] http://oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=7183

[12] https://galleryrider.com/index.php/african-art/archive/symmetrical-blades/genya-short-sword-tetela-genya-mbole-dr-congo-rep-congo-16

[13] https://galleryrider.com/index.php/african-art/archive/symmetrical-blades/genya-short-sword-tetela-genya-topoke-lokele-dr-congo-rep-congo

[14] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?lokele-before-1900-38-5-cm