Picked this up at our Friday flea market this morning. Hoping I did OK and it's legit. Thinking it's some type of Masai hunting spear but my knowledge on these is minimal. Hoping the experts can help me out. I know browningautorifle collects them. There is an antique dealer there that had the rear portion of one a while back but I saw no point in getting a third of a spear. This was just in the yard sale stuff. I didn't get it cheap but I think it was reasonable.
It's 60 1/4 inches in length. I did not take it apart as it fits tight but was told it does come apart.
Nice piece, yes they do come apart. Just anchor the end and give a slight cranking circle with the other end and one part will separate. I THINK this one is Maasai from Kenya. I have a very similar one...and it came from Mombasa Kenya, supposedly Maasai. Here's my little one. The markings at the back half of yours supposedly speak of the village that made it.
Thanks for confirming it's a good piece. I figured it was but just wanted to be sure. Next question. There is a very light coating of orange rust here and there, mainly on the broadhead. Any issues with cleaning this off? I hate rust on things. I did get the back piece off but the front is still tight.
I cleaned one here that was just scaley with rust, looks good now. I left another with a bit of dark shade but the rust had to go. These things are a special niche and not many even care about them, just us. It'll color up again with time so clean it up. Here's the one I had to derust... Looks much better than it did.
I figure they wouldn't leave rust on them. I'll work on it this afternoon. I have the first Saturday of the month yard sale flea market at the one antique place to hit this morning. Only three people showed up to it last month but it was threatening to rain. Hopefully people will come today. I posted it and the other spear point I have on a Facebook group I found last night. Had to go through an approval process which it passed four hours ago. So far a few likes but no information. It does not look like a very large group. Tribal African Weapons if you're interested.
Interesting thread Gentlemen, thank you. I have an African spear in my collection which was given to my Grandfather by a Col. W.F. Byers in 1939. The spear is marked Mwinilunga District which is a North-West province of Zambia. The prominent tribe in that area is the Ndembu so it is assumed this is one of their spears. It is also assumed that Col. Byers was a Brit as Zambia was a British colony ruled by a London appointed administration with advisors from the British South Africa Company until 1964. It is a simple yet elegant design with excellent balance and a very sharp spear point that would have made a fearsome weapon.
Aragorn, I'm not sure how much of your spear would have originally had a bright shiny finish and how much would have originally been a blackened finish. Many years ago I did do a little bit of blacksmithing for a few years and one of the finishes that I used, strange as it may sound, was to apply black boot polish to the forged metal while it was still slightly warm. While I'm not suggesting that you or anyone else heat up your/their spear/other object I do believe that black boot polish was quite commonly used to give a blackened finish on forged metal.
collects them. There is an antique dealer there that had the rear portion of one a while back but I saw no point in getting a third of a spear. This was just in the yard sale stuff. I didn't get it cheap but I think it was reasonable.
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Originally Posted by Aragorn243
