AZANDE SLAVER'S WAR SPEAR, 19th CENTURY

19th century. 50 3/8” length. Large raised medial leaf shaped head with skillfully forged bolster. The haft with copper trade wrap. Well used but sound with age encrustation. The Azande were fully involved in the slave trade at the time. Slavery and ivory were the two primary occupations. Slaves were sold to ready buyers on the East coast and well as domestically for labor and human consumption. From the Baptist Missionary Society Collection. Second half of the 19th century when the slave trade was primarily for the Arab market and human consumption (cannibalism).  That last, flesh for human consumption, had largely been ignored but for a few accounts like Glave. Recent anthropological studies assisted by the wealth of information compiled on the internet attribute a much greater proportion of the slave harvest to the cannibalism market.