Soloman Island Club, opinion 2?
 

Greetings! First post from a long time lurker/learner.

I picked up this club at a garage sale here in the Pacific Northwest. The story is that it was inherited from the proverbial south seas merchant sailing 'Uncle'. There was also a short Filipino Kris and what I believe is a Sumatran knife from the same Uncle, that I also purchased. The niece selling them had no idea where they came from and no records of the Uncle's travels, but said she believed he sailed in that area from the late 50's to the late 70's.

The club looks very much like some of the clubs in VANDOO's previous thread on Solomon Island clubs. The club is 15 1/2 inches long, with a head width of 5 1/2 inches. It weighs approx. 2.5 pounds. It has what my amateur eye says is a good patina and shows some age. There are some type of shell inlays on the knob projections and in the center of the top. A couple of these are damaged, unknown whether from actual use or just banging around in the Uncle's trunk for years. I am also an FMA instructor and the club has a much better balance when being used than I would have thought from the shape and weight. Any opinions or comments are appreciated.

P.S. This is an awesome sight that has taught me a lot and I hope to share some more of my "What is it?" acquisitions.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18273
THIS LINK IS TO A POST WITH GOOD INFORMATION ON THIS FORM OF CLUB. YOU EXAMPLE IS WHAT I THINK IS A OLDER FORM THAN THOSE WITH THE FLANGED HEADS. FROM THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THESE I SUSPECT THEY WERE THROWING CLUBS LIKE THE ULA CLUBS FROM FIJI BUT THEY COULD BE USED TO STRIKE WHEN FIGHTING IN CLOSE :shrug: . YOURS DOES APPEAR TO HAVE SOME AGE AND WEAR SO 1950 OR OLDER WOULD BE LIKELY, IT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HAD A FIBER WRAP ON THE GRIP IN THE PAST. A VERY NICE EXAMPLE. WELCOME TO THE FORUM, WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING SOME MORE OF YOUR INTERESTING TREASURES. :D

I think this is a nice old club. I also believe my new club to be an old one and I see no reason for the larger flanged club to be equally old even though it is in superb condition. There is a big difference in the quallity of form and patina on the clubs featured in these two threads.

The figure in the link, is the small figure in the post card ca 1910. It was old then at the mission sale. It is now in the British museum with most of the other items from the mission table top sale. The museum lament the loss of cultural background to the figure. You can see that some of the shell in the forehead and else where has been lost. The figure has been through a few collections before now residing in the British Museum.

Thanks, VANDOO and Tim. Almost everything I know about spotting, judging and rescuing/buying these type of ethnic items I learned from lurking here. Thanks again for sharing all that knowledge.