19th century example from the Baptist Missionary Society Collection. 15 ¾” length with slightly wasp-waisted blade with double forge finished fullers each side. Finely formed wood hilt with expanded base, below a swell and tapered oval section grip. Flared pommel. Entire hilt encased in hide with wire wrap impression. The hide over small chips to the flare and pommel ends indicating that it was applied well into the sword’s working life, yet saw considerable service after that. Baptist Missionaries settled in the Congo in the 1880’s so this sword probably dates to mid 19th century. They sent specimens like this back to England to raise funds for the missions. The collection was retired in the 1930’s and sold at Christies, London in the 1980’s where we purchased it. By that time, many of the original identification tags had been lost but several remain as shown but not included with this item.
