Original Item: Only One Available. The Shona tribe originated just North of Zululand, known today as South Africa. The tribe occupied what was then known as Southern Rhodesia, but we know today as ZIMBABWE. The Shona tribe had a hard history, fighting the Portuguese, the Zulus to their south and finally the British. After their final defeat in 1890 their land became Southern Rhodesia.
Both Northern and Southern Rhodesia became exceptionally rich as British Colonies with vast agricultural plantations that fed most of Africa and Great Britain. Post WW2 however these modern African societies unfortunately have returned to poverty. The Shona people were a warlike tribe and some ten million are said to survive today spread all over the southern African continent.
This is a war axe of typical Shona design that no doubt came back to England in the 1890s with some returning soldier as a memento of his African experience. Heavily overshadowed by the neighboring Zulus which the British had to defeat in 1879, it was not for ten more years later that the British also conquered the Shona. This Axe has a traditional blade and wire wrap. The shaft measures 22″ in length with a 12″ blade.