SURGICAL KNIVES
[1,2]: SURGICAL KNIVES
[3,5]: One surgical iron knife with a twisted handle and sharp, pointed end
[4]: Mbubu scarification marks on the belly of a young woman, potentially made with these knives
From: Igbo culture, Nigeria 🇳🇬Source [1,2]: “Among the Ibos of Nigeria” by George Thomas Basden, 1921
Source [3,5]: @britishmuseum
Source [4]: re-entanglements.net/tag/mbubu/
Source notes [3,5]: “Iron blade shaped into triangle, with twisted stick of iron extending at the top. Production date: circa 1914-16. 6.50 cm H, 2.50 cm W, 0.20 cm D”
Source notes [4]: “Detail from photograph of young woman with mbubu scarification marks, taken by Northcote W. Thomas in Awka, 1911…[on uli motifs in a different medium] Setting these drawn motifs alongside corresponding photographs in the archive enables one to compare representational form across different media. One can, for instance, compare the representation of mbubu scarification marks, an adornment made on young women’s abdomens prior to marriage, in a drawing of an uli figure with the actual scarification marks.”
Observations: visual contrast (thick, narrow handle and wide, flat blade), material intelligence, material manipulation to create different parts of the form (twisting vs hammering flat)