Knobkerries from South Africa have been used, banned, coveted and collected in large quantities. In early royal Zulu courts, a knobkerrie was the instrument of choice for executions. For many years, Zulu men carried them and used their hardwood elegance with lethal precision. By the 1850s, they were outlawed in many urban areas of the Cape and Natal. Laws specified that the knobs had to be small enough to fit in the owner's mouth or that only one could be carried. After the British-Zulu wars, British soldiers coveted them as trophies of their success in overcoming the tactics of the Zulu armies and the resilience of the warriors.
Wood
L.: 16 3/4 in.
Diam.: 3 1/8 in.
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.1272
Not currently on view
Resources
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Elegant Plain Art: Art from the Shaker World and Beyond, July 7, 1999 - Feb. 1, 2001.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Untold Story, Nov. 14, 2003 - Nov.14, 2004.
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
