O.K., now what is THIS thing????

[UTUSN]

Not only do I sweep the edge of the street in FRONT, but also rake and scoop whatever odds and ends the city garbage and brush trucks leave behind. Really, I'm NOT "scavenging," but once I found a gambling token from Las Vegas. But THIS is weird. It looks like an actual weapon, actually esthetically pleasing. It couldn't be from a lawn game, it's too dangerous. When I Dremel wire-brush off the rust it will look collectable. It's 17 1/4" long.

Everything I've asked about, somebody in the Lounge knows. The last time it was SLIME MOLD!!1

[spacelady]

1. Remember Trilogy of Terror? That little fetish doll will be looking for

that spear he lost!

[Cush]

6. lol, I remeber watching that when I was like 5

wasn't scared by it, found it funny

[bertha katzenengel]

2. Dang. Whatever it is, keep it. Hang it on a wall.

It's pretty cool. Wish I could tell you what it is.

[UTUSN]

4. Yip, I plan to. I've got a Drusard (knife of the common people)

on the wall. But as a Vietnam vet it occasionally crosses my mind that visitors might get the wrong idea...

[begin_within]

3. I think it's more interesting with the rust.

[qnr]

5. I second that n/t

[Generic Brad]

7. The spear from an Indonesian shadow puppet

Hey -- it was a long shot answer.

[hedgehog]

8. Is it possible that it's some sort of masonry bracket?

It reminds me of the hangers used to hold insulation in place on industrial furnaces. It's too long for that, but the little grooves halfway down the shaft look familiar.

[hedgehog]

9. My daughter says it's off of someone's fence.

[UTUSN]

11. To #s 9&10. Thanks, sounds reasonable.

It is TOTALLY self-contained, shows NO sign of being "attached" to anything.

[reyd reid reed]

10. I dunno...

but it kinda looks like some sort of fireplace tool.

:shrug:

[hedgehog]

12. I agree, it looks like a tool but that twist in the shaft is very ornamental.

It's a tool, but usually it's sitting around as a decoration.

[reyd reid reed]

13. Yeah...but a lot of fireplace tools have some kind of ornamental thing to 'em

It makes me think fireplace tool because:

1. The length is right

2. The shape fits

3. It's entirely self-contained...not broken off.

4. It looks like it has a handle.

5. It's November, so it's just that time of year.

[hedgehog]

18. I was agreeing with you that it looks like a fireplace tool.

Sorry if it sounded like a disagreement.

[Kali]

15. Yep that was my first thought.

[Left Is Write]

14. Could it have been part of a lawn ornament or weather vane?

[rug]

16. A hand from a clock?

[TheCentepedeShoes]

21. What I thought

I big clock. Guess there would need to be a hole at the base to attach to the center.

[zanne]

23. Looks like that, doesn't it?

Like the second hand from Big Ben.

[TheBaldyMan]

17. I believe it's part of an assegai - a short spear with a leaf shaped blade

originally from E. Africa. Possibly Maasai(on edit: or possibly Shona).

There would have been a wooden handle about 18" long fitted below the head and bronze spike fitted to the bottom end.

The spear-head is probably bronze as well. DO NOT DREMEL IT CLEAN - IT COULD BE VERY OLD.

Take it to an antique weapons dealer for a valuation. Chances are that isn't worth much without the other parts.

[UTUSN]

19. Looks LIKE that, but...

It's solid metal, NOT for fitting onto a longer wooden shaft. The "handle" is FLAT, like that of some fork or spoon. And for the previous post (above), "hand of a clock" it shows NO hole for a screw, NO sign of being ATTACHED to anything.



*******QUOTE*******

http://www.mwart.com/xq/ASP.product/pid.1781/qx/assegai-with-short-shaft.htm

The Assegai heads are heat treated and then drawn to a tough spring temper. This process allows the spear head to flex or bend under impact stresses rather than break. The Assegai w/short shaft features a 13.33 in. Sk-5 medium carbon blade and an American ash wood handle. The overall length of Assegai is 36.00 in.

A great military genius of the 19th century, Shaka, ruler of the Zulu kingdom in Southern Africa introduced a long bladed spear called an Assegai. This weapon, with the long shield and regimental organization created by Shaka fundamentally altered the social and political composition in the region and changed the future of the people there. Assegai is spear used by tribes in South Africa as a missile and for stabbing as well. It is a slender hardwood spear with an iron tip used mostly by the people of Zulu.


********UNQUOTE*******

[TheBaldyMan]

22. That's a Zulu assegai - the Maasai kind comes in two types lion & buffalo

both types come in three parts, the spearhead, the handle and the lower spike.



The lion and buffalo spears have different head designs the buffalo one being a leaf shaped spear head just like what most people expect a spear to look like the other lion spearhead looks almost like a sword blade.

In this image you can see two young men holding their lion spears


You can see the multi-part construction, spear-head at the top the wooden handle and the whole resting on the bottom spike.

Perhaps my use of the word assegai is misleading, I don't know the name that Maasai call their spears, I tend to use assegai for any african spear.

Having said that the spiral neck below the leaf shaped head does look very like a spear head that I have seen and that was most definately a Maasai spear that came as one of a pair.

on edit: the maasai buy/trade for the metal parts of their spears. So maybe it's a generic E. African design from a blacksmith. If it hasn't got a ferrule (hollow for a wooden shaft) then it could be a short spear very much like a Zulu assegai but I haven't heard of an all metal Zulu assegai before.

[conscious evolution]

20. To me it looks ornamental

but was never attached to whatever it should be attached to.

[UTUSN]

24. Sorry!!1 I *did* clean it up and LOOK what was under there!!!1

Two inlays of copper banding, one-third of the way inward from each end, NOT encircling around, both being "broken" spaces on the sides. And the leaf blade has a SPINE, like a knife, on ONE side only, the obverse being flat. Both of the copper bands have etched-in lines on their outsides, with another etched-in band of leaflike lines. I've looked up fireplace tools on the web and the ones I saw all had ring-like handles for hanging on brackets or pegs, NOT like this.

Apologies to you connoisseurs who prefer the rusted-over conditions.