Unknown staff come club
 

This is an interesting staff that almost certainly doubled as a club for defense purposes. It is long enough to be used as a staff measuring well over 40" in length. It features a two handed grip with 4 ball like dividers. The bottom of the staff has a long iron wrap. The iron is well done as I can't find a seam anywhere. The two handed grip reminded me a bit of some swords from India but Runjeet, who had a look at this thing, didn't believe it was Indian. The wood is octagonally faceted and so I thought it might be Asian and discussed it with Philip and he ruled out Chinese and felt it probably wasn't Korean or Japanese either. I asked Charles and Jose and they didn't have a clue and were no help at all! :p
It still has an Asian feel to me so am wondering if it could be Malaysian or somewhere in that area. I definitely don't get an African feel to it. Bit it means business. The iron wrap at the bottom and the two handed grip would make an effective striking weapon. So, thoughts?

Could be one of those Indian holy man weapons. Looks a nice old piece. I would think it is from Indian subcontinent, but I would not rule out Africa? I do not think to is from further east?

Thanks for the feedback Tim. My initial thought was India as well but in my discussion with Runjeet he ruled out India. He based that on the cross section. In his experience Indian clubs typically have a round cross section. Not to say there couldn't be a one of example. I agree we can't rule out Africa but it is unlike anything I have seen from that region as well. Does anyone have a copy of Draeger's fighting arts? Could this be Indonesian/Malaysian?

Hi Rsword.

Permission to back peddle?! It's just that your pics make me see it in a different light, particularly picture 4. The image looks like it could be the shaft of a Persian tabar, or Bikanner all steel Indian mace! (The Muslim Knight - Furisyya collection) has a small group of these in the book.

I don't recall seeing a wooden haft shaped like this before, but I have seen iron 'faceted' like this.

It may be South Indian, one of the Dravidian tribes, and taken influence from the South Indian Sangs and other pole-arms that have the bulbous 'hand separators'. See pics of a 17thC South Indian Sang. Yours has the Bulbous globes, with a caved ring each side, this is exactly what we see on many South Indian pole-arms.

Regards
Runjeet

The faceted wood and brass upholstery nails seem to indicate Congolese origin.

I also see this as possibly a shaft for an axe or another type of weapon.

It's probably too long, but some Kudi's have carved hilts and brass studs.

Roy

I recognize that Ngala/Ngombe swords, as well as other from the region, have a bulbous section to the grip with brass nails. However, in my experience, these African pieces do not have Octagonal faceting and the bulbous section is a different shape than on this club. On the African pieces, the bulb tends to be more diamond shape with the widest section being in the middle of the bulb. The staff is a bit more round and uniform.

Would love to see Congo examples that closely resemble the features of this staff if you have any images.

Good point and I wish there was more material on staff weapons of Asia to help us in our identification.

Hi RSWORD

If you just google "congo spears" you will find some images showing faceted wood and metal. I tried to copy some images to post, but didn't seem to work...

The iron sleeve to your piece looks a bit European from the images, some close-ups of this may be useful. Is that something brass shining where it joins the wood ?