A fine Central African, Lobala or Nzombo, Chieftain's knife

the flaring and waisted handle decorated with brass tacks and wire supporting the flat metal blade in the form of a female figure; decorated with incised linear and scalloped motifs; varied and aged surface overall with areas of encrustation at the handle.

The Brill knife is rare in its anthorpomorphic composition. See Sotheby's New York, May 15, 2003, lot 78, for a closely related knife, formerly in the Leff Collection; see also Maurer (1991: 38-39) for two related weapons from the Mestach Collection.