Description: Vintage Pygmy leather/wood Quiver plus 15 arrows. Ref. W/23
Maker: Unknown
Date: Estimated 1930 1950. The exact age is difficult to ascertain as the design for the quiver and arrows virtually never changed. Comparing the arrows to those which I have in my possession and which were collected in the late 1940s in the Ituri forest (formerly the Belgian Congo) by my parents, they are not too dissimilar. However, I do not think they are from the Pygmies in the Ituri Forest but more likely another scattered area.
History: The ancient Greeks mention Pygmies but it was only in the late 1800s that Europeans met up with them. The Pygmies of Africa are one of the oldest ethnic groups known on this continent and are believed to have been around for the past 60,000 years. The Pygmies lived in a number of small family groups ranging from 15 to 50 odd people from the Ituri Forests in the former Belgian Congo to Rwanda, Cameroons, Uganda and Gabon. Basically forest people and nomadic, these groups were constantly on the move throughout the year. Trading with bush meat and honey did occur with the local African villages. Today, the Pygmy faces a very uncertain future with many no longer speaking their own language or even living as hunter-gatherers as they used to.
Description: The quiver offered is made from hollowed out wood with a leather exterior and simply decorated with line motifs. The quiver would likely have had a cap but this is missing. There are 15 metal tipped arrows in all, the arrow heads being barbed or plain. Please see images. The arrows are not fletched (no feathers) as this would have hindered the shooting of birds, smaller animals etc in a thick leafy forest environment. The shafts are bamboo and measure around 60cm in length. The ends are notched and protected by what appears to be animal sinew.
Condition: Good overall, but some disintegration of the leather tassels attached to the quiver. All in all, a rather rare piece of African heritage.
Price: R1200.00
Please note, I am NOT a qualified archaeologist/antiquarian and the description I have given is based on research of the subject.
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