Monitor Lizard Knife Holder

Monitor lizard knife-holder, and detail, (c. 1900). Photographed in situ, Eldon House. Photo by S. Butlin.
Monitor lizard knife-holder, and detail, (c. 1900). Photographed in situ, Eldon House. Photo by S. Butlin.
Monitor lizard knife-holder, detail, (c. 1900). Photographed in situ, Eldon House. Photo by S. Butlin.
Monitor lizard knife-holder, detail, (c. 1900). Photographed in situ, Eldon House. Photo by S. Butlin.

Monitor Lizard Knife Holder
Artist: Unknown
Date: c.1900
Created:  Africa, possibly Sudan
Medium: Monitor Lizard, leather
Dimensions: 19 cm. x 14 cm.
Collection: Eldon House

This knife-holder was likely created from a monitor lizard by an indigenous craftsperson, possibly from Sudan, and was designed to hold three small knives, one in each of three small sheaths. The maker has integrated the actual shape of the lizard into the design.  The knife holder is thought to have been collected by Ronald Harris while working in Africa as a mining engineer from c.1900 to 1905. The knife-holder, made for a practical function by an indigenous craftsperson, makes an interesting contrast to the tantalus discussed above.

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