TILMAN HEBEISEN
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cause Hebeisen had the ivory handles before he
manufactured the blades, he was able to manipulate
the iron so that it would protrude through
the handles’ bottoms (fi g. 7). This subtle detail is
present on many authentic African knife types,
lending credence to Hebeisen’s blades.
Though Hebeisen was a sound blacksmith, his
techniques were not African, as the analysis of
the Rider “Yakoma” revealed. But in case any
doubt remains that these blades were not manufactured
by the Yakoma, Hebeisen produced
several signifi cant photographs during his interviews
with Miersch. One depicts the Rider blade
(fi g. 10) and others depict two “Yakomas” that
Hebeisen would later discover on the market,
leading to his distressing revelation that he was
not in fact creating artistic reproductions but
rather forgeries (fi gs. 11 and 12). Other photographs
show partially completed blades in conjunction
with a sketch in one case and a full-size
photocopy of the original Yakoma knife (fi gs. 13
and 14). All of these photographs were taken by
Hebeisen in his home in Austria.
By placing the radically extravagant and authentic
Yakoma blade on the cover of his 1978
book Afrikanische Waffen, Zirngibl guaranteed
its signifi cance as a rare object and reinforced
its considerable value. Since there was only one
original, it was the perfect object for him to have
copied, guaranteeing that he would be both the
expert on the type and the only dealer who had
examples for sale.
FURTHER EVIDENCE
AND CORROBORATION
Hebeisen’s commissions were not limited to
Yakoma blades. In 1983, Zirngibl published
Seltene Afrikanische Kurzwaffen (Rare African
Short Weapons), which featured another
masterpiece knife that had never been seen before:
an oversized solid-copper “Kota” musele
blade (fi g. 15). Like the Yakoma blade, these
exceedingly rare and unusually obscure “Kota”
knives quickly became some of the most highly
sought-after types of African knives, and to this
FIGS. 13–14 (below):
Hebeisen “Yakoma”
knives in various stages of
construction photographed
in the home of Tilman
Hebeisen.
Photos: Tilman Hebeisen.
day they sell for amounts exponentially higher
than most other African knives.
In the late 1970s, Zirngibl delivered eight 36 x
16 x 1 cm copper sheets to Hebeisen and asked
him to invent a new knife based on the iron Kota
double-eye musele (fi g. 16).
To his delight, Hebeisen was granted artistic
liberty, which meant that while he was required
to follow the general style of the authentic blades
and was constrained by the size of the copper
sheet, he was otherwise free to design the new