Northern Africa, Sudan, ca. 1890 to 1900 CE. This is a Sudanese mace with iron spear points on each end and iron flails with circular tips that have designs carved into them. It has a wide wooden mace head on one end and the handle is wooden coated with some kind of skin -- crocodile? These objects were first described in the west in the 1860s when British expeditions brought them back; they later became famous somewhat erroneously as the "primitive weapons" used by the army of Sudanese "dervishes" -- itself a misleading term for the Islamic army -- in the battle of Omdurman on September 2, 1898, when Major-General Herbert Kitchener and his troops of the Anglo-Egyptian Army decisively defeated the Sudanese and took control of that area of the Sahara for the next several decades. In reality, the Sudanese army had access to some firearms and hid those carrying them within their army in the hopes of surprising the British. In the ensuing western reporting on the battle -- which was a rout for the Sudanese -- the myths about their use of "war maces" like this one and their primitive nature spread. Size: 73"H x 4"W (185.4 cm x 10 cm).
Provenance: Ex-private Denver, Co Collection, ex Arte Primitivo Gallery.
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#108792
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The piece is intact, with a patina on the metal and wear to the skin wrapped around the wooden handle.