A Very Fine Billao with Ivory Pommel Spike
Somaliland (Somalia)
Dervish Kingdom
Late 19th - Early 20th century (ca. 1895 - 1915)
Elephant ivory, horn, pewter (?), steel, goat hide
Blade: 21cm
Hilt & Blade: 39,4cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 40,6cm
Collection Date: 2022
Collection Number: 264

Ex. Oriental Arms: Haifa, Israel (2022) (https://oriental-arms.com/product/billao-dagger-from-somalia-east-africa/)
Ex. C&T Auctioneers: Royal Tunbridge Wells, UK (2020)

A very fine example of the Somali billao knife of the Horn of Africa. The blade is double-edged and asymmetrical, with a slight medial ridge tapering into a point. Wide shallow fullers on each side of the ridge. The hilt carved from elephant ivory with segemented spaces of horn and pewter with an alloy ferrule.

Although somewhat common in varying degrees, interestingly not so common is the pommel spike here, which is also carved from elephant ivory rather than the usual silver spike, sometimes imitating a crown. Of those spikes that are made of ivory, many times, they are often broken, chipped, or completely absent. A very fine example of a rare variation of Somali billao.

• Spring, Christopher. “African Arms and Armor”. 1993. Page 105 – 106 (Info)