These great instruments “would” be ceremonial knives with blades in imported steel and copper handles. They were worn over the shoulder or under the armpit by chiefs of vassal clans and could also be used for sacrifices. On the handle of the presented model, in copper, we can note a man astride on it (which may represented the owner) accompanied by a zebu and a crocodile - which are the reincarnation of two ancestors - and of a duck on the hilt, one of the birds intercessors between the living and the dead, symbol of fecundity. The “Bara” are a people of pastors, the life of this community was founded on the property of big herds. The favourite metal of the “Bara” forgers is copper, the most precious metal because of its rarity. With the arrival of Europeans, in the 19th century, copper came from the recycling of coins, telephone wires, cartridge cases, etc... “Bara” forgers did not use the cire perdue (lost wax) casting method, but crafted metal straight from the oven, still malleable, with an important range of scissors, saws, files and other diverse tips, they sculpted metal as artists, the same way as wood. With the disappearance of the Kingdoms and their noble clients, the “Bara” forgers lost their art and progressively disappeared. Total length: 31 cm.