Throwing Knife / Prestige Scepter (pingha)
Unknown Artist
1800–mid-1900s
Medium
Iron alloy and plant fiber
Dimensions
h. 45.5 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Donna L. and Robert H. Jackson
Accession Number
2015.156
About this artwork
Throwing knives (pingha, plural kipinga) were historically used by elite Zande men as weapons in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Carefully calibrated, they would spin when thrown or balance on the shoulder when taken into battle. Kipinga were not everyday weapons, but considered property of the king; only those fighting on his behalf like royal bodyguards and court attendants used them. One side of this blade is adorned with complex figural and geometric engravings. No longer used for fighting, ...