Tribal Knife belonging to the Luba Tribe late 19th Century Africa.

These tribal weapons are very uncommon and items of this era all have damage to the wooden handles due to use(please see pics) .

Length 28cm Blade length 19.3 cm Blade Width at widest part 4.5cm

The Luba people or Baluba are an ethno-linguistic group indigenous to the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2] The majority of them live in this country, residing mainly in its Katanga, Kasai, and Maniema provinces. The Baluba consist of many sub-groups who speak various dialects of Luba (e.g. Tshiluba, Kiluba) or other languages, such as Swahili. The Luba empire was one of the most-renowned African states. Archaeologists have shown that the area where the heart of the empire was situated, east of the Kasai River around the headwaters of the Lualaba River, was likely inhabited by the 5th century century, with the beginnings of the empire emerging by the 14th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the Luba were ruled by a paramount chief (bulopwe or balopwe), although smaller independent chiefdoms already existed. The Luba empire was fragmented by Belgian colonization between 1880 and 1960, and the breakdown of the empire resulted in the development either of smaller chiefdoms or of small autonomous local lineage groups.The 4th Photo is of Antique Luba and other African Tribal items I will be putting on auction over the next couple of months. The 45 gram Aromat container is an indication of size.