This object was previously in the collection of the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum established in 1928 by Harry Geoffrey Beasley and his wife Irene Marguerite Beasley. The Beasley collection was distributed following Harry Beasley’s death in 1939. This piece was part of the donation made by Irene Beasley to the British Museum in 1944. Beasley bought this sword from London-based dealer Sydney Burney. It was entered into the Beasley ledger on 2 November 1927.
Ceremonial eben sword. Iron blade with punched geometric patterns, ring-shaped brass handle. Shaft made of iron covered with ivory panels incised with linear decoration and packed with pieces of wood; bound at both ends with animal skin stitched to secure.