21" blade length. 28.5" overall with hilt. Single-edged sickle sword with four projections radiating from the back of the blade and mounting an iron wire wrapped hilt with ebony pommel carved into three discs. Back of the blade is forge black with regular engraved patterns affecting a fish scale appearance, while the polished portions of the blade are decorated with three lines of engraved hatch marks. The Ngulu once served the Bantu peoples as an execution sword. In the ritual, the condemned would be tied to a chair, his head tied back and the neck stretched out, permitting a deft blow to sever the head, whereupon the pattern of ropes would release their tension by catapulting the head away. From 1885 to 1909, the Belgians forbade this practice, but the Ngulu retained significance as both a ceremonial blade and a symbol of power. Given this lot's quite light blade with an unsharpened edge, it was most likely produced as a ceremonial arm, rather than a true executioner's sword.