Images(2)

Wrist knife

Label TextPerfectly real Herding camels and traveling long distances, the Turkana of northern Kenya make use of every ornament they wear. This wrist knife is razor-sharp and serves as jewelry and a weapon as well, used in fights and in wrestling contests. It is fabricated out of iron and then encased in leather to protect the edge from becoming dull and the wearer from injury. When collecting it in Kenya, Katherine White wrote, "I bought two razor bracelets, one with copper beads, the other ordinary but perfectly real."

Object number81.17.1134

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Untold Story, November 14, 2003 - November 14, 2004Published ReferencesBurt, Eugene C., East African Art in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1985, no. 4, p. 11

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

DimensionsDiam.: 5 1/4 in.

MediumAluminum and leather