ANTIQUE AFRICAN CURVED KNIFE–PROWN-TROMBASH

Description

ANTIQUE AFRICAN CURVED KNIFE–PROWN-TROMBASH
A good African long knife possibly from Ngbandi tribe. 25" in length, wooden handle with twisted copper wire and brass tacks. Extensive dark rust patination and pitting. An interesting piece with genuine age.
Materials: The blade is made of iron, the handle and pommel are made of wood, and there is a wrapping around the upper part of the handle.
Paper thin blade, with primitive decor.
The trombash is a functional weapon that lacks the large pommel, and since it was meant for hooking away shields it was probably wielded with finesse. Thus the purpose of adding the pommel on the sickle knife was purely to allow it to stand
When not in use, it’s possible that it could be hooked onto a belt. The pommel also allows it to stand upright on a flat surface, so when put away it could be stood on a floor or table of some sort.
The large pommel combined with a short grip would’ve gotten in the way of advanced finesse, and the crescent blade would make thrusts ineffective.
Although it’s made of iron, the blade is paper thin. It probably would’ve been too weak to use in a pickaxe like fashion. If the user avoided using the tip, the curved shape would’ve allowed them to apply more pressure on the edges of the blade than the straight knife design would allow.
Thus the wielder of this knife probably used it in slicing and hacking motions. Since the pommel would get in the way of wrist motions, the force would come from the swinging the forearm. The chopping motion could use the outer curve, where the inner curve could be used for slicing/tearing.
The pommel doubles as a stand, it’s possible the knife served a decorative purpose rather than functional. However it lacks any sort of pattern, engraving or decoration one would expect from a ceremonial or decorative object.
It may have functioned both as a tool and a weapon. Similar to a machete, it could be used as a tool to hack and slice away plant life. As a weapon, it could tear large gashes into human flesh.
I know sickle knives are common in the Congo area, which is a part of Africa with a dense jungle. I know it’s been prone to a lot of civil war and Europeans enslaved people from there during the Colonial Era. Other than that, I have very little outside knowledge of the place or its inhabitants.
The trombash is a functional weapon that lacks the large pommel, and since it was meant for hooking away shields it was probably wielded with finesse. Thus the purpose of adding the pommel on the sickle knife was purely to allow it to stand upright. If being able to balance on its pommel had a utilitarian purpose, one would expect trombash to have a similar feature. So this sickle knife could be referred to as decorative trombash.