A Very Rare Mbele A Lulendo "Sword of Authority" Chief's Execution Sword
A Very Rare Mbele A Lulendo
"Sword of Authority" Chief's Execution Sword
Kikongo Bantu Speaking people: Yombe, Beembe, Sundi
Lower Congo Province, Kingdom of Kongo (Northern Angola, Western Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Southern Gabon)
Mid- 16th - Mid- 19th century
Iron
Blade: 81,3cm
Hilt & Blade: 94cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2020
Collection Number: 146
Ex. Sofe Design: Richardson, Texas, USA (2020)
Ex. Auctions Imperial: Chatsworth, California, USA (2019)
Ex. Private Belgian Collection
A rare royal chief's execution sword of the Kongo Kingdom known as Mbele A Lulendo, or the "sword of authority." These swords are modeled after 16th century Portuguese navigational crab or carracks black swords. Many older examples had European blades acquired through trade or capture during early Portuguese colonization along the coast and later into the interior highlands. Portuguese traveler Oduardo Lopez noted that swords and daggers were already in use among rulers in Luanda as regalia when he visited there in 1578. European blades were highly desired and superior to local iron manufacturer. The crossroads pose or niombo, with the right hand up to heaven and left hand parallel to the horizon line, symbolizes the rulers ultimate authority, later characterized the niombo figure. This gesture is found in Kongo, Cameroon, and Nigeria and has made its way to Haiti via vodun. The right hand up and left hand down recalls the anthropomorphic reading of the hand- guards of the Mbele a luando (sword of authority), the royal swords of execution in ancient Kongo. This gesture, on swords and niombo, marked the boundaries between two worlds (upper- life and lower- death worlds). This gesture symbolizes the ruler’s ultimate authority. The upper right arm “hails the law,” (yamba mambu) while the lowered arm “cools the community” (lembika kanda). For example, when the ruler convicts a criminal to death (raised right hand upholding the law, he also reestablishes the peace, or coolness, of the community (lowered left hand) that the lawbreaker destroyed. Early examples were used for execution and buried in the tomb with the chief. Later centuries, these power swords were placed at the end of the grave, blade in the ground with the hilt facing upward to represent their status, power, and imbuity. Mbele swords were considered nkisi, or objects that a spirit inhabits. They acted as symbols of status and objects of ritual and a vessel to transition from one world to another during death. They were also an important part of the regalia and was used in coronation ceremonies as an investiture (Vandehoute 1973, 41-41) and during ritual dances (e.g. Sangamentos) as well as executions.
The blade is very old, mid- 16th to early 17th century European, possibly from Solingen, Germany, or Portuguese. Iron broadsword type blade with a pair of deep, short fullers at each edge that spans almost half of the blade's length, then a deep central fuller begins that extends toward the point. On each side is a maker's mark, inlaid copper of a cross, one side missing its copper inlay.
The iron guard formed in the "crossroads pose" with rolled quillions terminating in rounded, pronged, and pierced quillion tips. Missing its elephant ivory hilt now long gone. The pommel shape replicates the shape of a crown, influenced by Portuguese iconography. The cross guard is an old replacment from the original dating to around the mid- 19th century. A very scarce and powerful sword, with about 20 known examples, most of which are in musuem and private collections. Mounted with a very old and impressive European blade. This sword would have been passed down for generations from one chief to another in the Kongo Kingdom after the former deceased chief’s rites of passage was completed and the transfer of power to the next of kin to rule.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23008 (Post #20)
SENGELØV, A. 2014. Mbele a lulendo: een studie naar de hnco erkomst en context van de zwaarden gevonden op het grafveld te Kindoki, Mbanza Nsundi, Bas-Congo. Unpublished MA dissertation, Universiteit Gent. https://lib.ugent.be/nl/catalog/rug01:002162306
“Beauté Fatale. “Armes d’ Afrique Centrale”. 1992. Page 223: #412
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1995-05-1
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23008 (Post #20)
http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2019/11/09/37552788.html
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/very-rare-early-16th-c-italian-or-spanish-transit-afc4e65bdb
https://www.pba-auctions.com/lot/7260/1445387-epee-ceremonielle-mbele-a-lulesort=2&