A Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

  • Rare Yao Knife

A Rare Yao Knife
Yao People
Maravi - British Central Africa Protectorate - Nyasaland (Malawi), Portuguese East Africa (Niassa Province, Mozambique)
Late 19th - Early 20th century (ca. 1880 - 1920)
Elephant ivory, steel, leather, wood
Blade: 15,9cm
Hilt & Blade: 29,8cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 31,1cm
Collection Date: 2023
Collection Number: 318


One of the rarer types of knives from the African continent, they are often mistaken as Asian in origin but are actually from the Yao People in Africa's Malawi and Mozambique. A well-made, heavy example, the hilt is carved from a piece of elephant tusk. The hilt is engraved with black circle-dot motifs on the pommel. The blade is thick, single- edged steel with a small fuller near the spine connecting to a steel bolster. There are stamps present on one face of the blade often seen on Yao knives. The sheath is leather over wood. Very similar examples in the British Musuem are attributed to the late 19th to early 20th century.