Rare Dote/Currency TETELA (Mongo) - DR Congo

Origin: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tribe name: TETELA (Mongo)
Material: red copper
Dimensions (mm): 330X30X57
Weight (grams): 311
Shipping method: Colissimo + Insurance

KNIVES/SWORDS – TETELA SCEPTERS (Red copper)

Very rare objects in their current state, as they were made of copper and melted more easily than bronze or iron coins to create other objects.
Their diverse shapes (Knife/Swords—or simple figurative coins representing a weapon like a knife (reference to the spearheads of the same ethnicity – power and strength in war as in hunting)) indicated that they were used for marriage dowries. The future groom did not "buy" a wife, but thanked the bride’s parents with a gift.
Double-edged blades signified the union of the spouses. Sceptres with double blades, even rarer, were fitted onto a wooden or iron shaft and were borne by the fetishists during the ceremony and the consecration of this union.