Interesting war club with cross cultural features

[colin henshaw]

Very interesting piece, thanks for posting. The geometric carving certainly has an Oceanic look (Austral Islands ?), probably from a paddle or club shaft. The metal bits look as if added by a European, so my best guess is ... its a sailor's or beachcomber's cosh or "handy billy"... 19th century at least ?

Regards.

[Shakethetrees]

It almost looks like a pickax handle.

In Clunie's Fijian Weapons and Warfare he illustrates Western trade axes decorated and used Fijian style.

Could this be something similar?

[trenchwarfare]

ANZAC trench club? I saw a club on ebay years ago, that looked like a Knobkerrie, with added WWI hobnails, and markings.

[RSWORD]

Originally Posted by trenchwarfare

AZAC trench club? I saw a club on ebay years ago, that looked like a Knobkerrie, with added WWI hobnails, and markings.

I know what you are referring to and while similar in design I am leaning heavily towards this club having an Oceanic origin with European iron and leather. The wood and carving style point us in that direction.

[RSWORD]

Jimmy, Barry,

You guys have a lot of club references and experience with these type of things. Any thoughts?

[trenchwarfare]

Originally Posted by RSWORD

I know what you are referring to and while similar in design I am leaning heavily towards this club having an Oceanic origin with European iron and leather. The wood and carving style point us in that direction.

In helps to spell things right. I meant ANZAC: Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

That would give it an Oceanic connection. A trip to the trenches in WWI, would add the iron.

[Tim Simmons]

There is some semblance to Fijian work. The cowrie has uses in Fijian culture. It looks like many ww1 trench clubs. There was a 57 strong Fijian force serving at the Somme? The cowrie would have value else where in South Pacific regions? Perhaps just a club made with a few pieces of European scrap material additions? Samoans serving with ANZAC?

[trenchwarfare]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

There is some semblance to Fijian work. The cowrie has uses in Fijian culture. It looks like many ww1 trench clubs. There was a 57 strong Fijian force serving at the Somme? The cowrie would have value else where in South Pacific regions? Perhaps just a club made with a few pieces of European scrap material additions? Samoans serving with ANZAC?

No, but an Aussie, or Kiwi might have access to such.

[RSWORD]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

There is some semblance to Fijian work. The cowrie has uses in Fijian culture. It looks like many ww1 trench clubs. There was a 57 strong Fijian force serving at the Somme? The cowrie would have value else where in South Pacific regions? Perhaps just a club made with a few pieces of European scrap material additions? Samoans serving with ANZAC?

Having the advantage of club in hand my gut feeling is that the club is much older than WW1. I think it is an interesting theory about it being a trench club used by Fijian troops in the war but my gut tells me otherwise.

[RSWORD]

Originally Posted by Shakethetrees

It almost looks like a pickax handle.

In Clunie's Fijian Weapons and Warfare he illustrates Western trade axes decorated and used Fijian style.

Could this be something similar?

Most axe handles tend to have a rectangular cross section and this one is round. Those native axes you mention typically have the imported axe head and that is attached to a native wood.

[RSWORD]

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

Very interesting piece, thanks for posting. The geometric carving certainly has an Oceanic look (Austral Islands ?), probably from a paddle or club shaft. The metal bits look as if added by a European, so my best guess is ... its a sailor's or beachcomber's cosh or "handy billy"... 19th century at least ?

Regards.

Colin,

Thanks for the feedback. The geometric patterns definitely have an Oceanic look to them and I agree the Austral Islands could be a possibility but typically their carvings are much more refined than on this example. I don't think it is from a paddle shaft although as you can probably see from the pictures it is narrower at the handle and the widens at the end but the cross section there is quite round and I would think a paddle would be flatter. The overall length is 27" so I suppose it could be a shortened club but I have seen many clubs over the years of this same length. I agree the iron and leather are European but any ideas what country had contact in these areas(supposing in and around Austral Islands) and how early?

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by RSWORD

Colin,

Thanks for the feedback. The geometric patterns definitely have an Oceanic look to them and I agree the Austral Islands could be a possibility but typically their carvings are much more refined than on this example. I don't think it is from a paddle shaft although as you can probably see from the pictures it is narrower at the handle and the widens at the end but the cross section there is quite round and I would think a paddle would be flatter. The overall length is 27" so I suppose it could be a shortened club but I have seen many clubs over the years of this same length. I agree the iron and leather are European but any ideas what country had contact in these areas(supposing in and around Austral Islands) and how early?

To try to expand on the points you have raised :-

Here are a couple of images of Austral Islands paddles that I have picked off the internet for reference. I believe fairly similar carved decoration was also used in Fiji.

Regarding European contact..as far as I know British, French and Spanish ships all explored the Pacific Islands in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Also the US Exploring Expedition visited the South Pacific in the late 1830s. Not sure if they visited the Australs, but they did Fiji. After explorers came missionaries, traders, whalers & settlers.

Two more points of observation - the wood on the piece seems quite dry and abraded from the images, this could indicate prolonged contact with salt spray and exposure. The presence of cowrie shells and those leather tassels tend to suggest West Africa, so perhaps a sailor owner had visited there as well as the Pacific ? Possible slavery connection ??

Anyway, an intriguing object...

[RSWORD]

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

To try to expand on the points you have raised :-

Here are a couple of images of Austral Islands paddles that I have picked off the internet for reference. I believe fairly similar carved decoration was also used in Fiji.

Regarding European contact..as far as I know British, French and Spanish ships all explored the Pacific Islands in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Also the US Exploring Expedition visited the South Pacific in the late 1830s. Not sure if they visited the Australs, but they did Fiji. After explorers came missionaries, traders, whalers & settlers.

Two more points of observation - the wood on the piece seems quite dry and abraded from the images, this could indicate prolonged contact with salt spray and exposure. The presence of cowrie shells and those leather tassels tend to suggest West Africa, so perhaps a sailor owner had visited there as well as the Pacific ? Possible slavery connection ??

Anyway, an intriguing object...

Thanks for the picture from the net. Interesting that it has carved wooden protrusions at the top of the club. Would the bent nails grouped in a ball be in imitation of this?

Yes, the club is quite dry and has a lot of age splits and cracks. Is this from salt spray? Could be. The cowrie shells are quite bleached so they have had a lot if exposure to the sun at one time. The dry wood could also be fro change of climates, storage conditions, etc. it just seems quite old to me. Not sure it would be worth treating the wood at this time.

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by RSWORD

Thanks for the picture from the net. Interesting that it has carved wooden protrusions at the top of the club. Would the bent nails grouped in a ball be in imitation of this?

Yes, the club is quite dry and has a lot of age splits and cracks. Is this from salt spray? Could be. The cowrie shells are quite bleached so they have had a lot if exposure to the sun at one time. The dry wood could also be fro change of climates, storage conditions, etc. it just seems quite old to me. Not sure it would be worth treating the wood at this time.

Most likely the iron nails etc are just to provide a more effective striking area, rather than an imitation of the woodcarving...but who knows ?

I have a copy of a useful little book "The Art of Tahiti" by Terence Barrow 1979 - it has a section on the Austral Islands, and I attach an extract which seems relevant.

Can you tell me from where the club was sourced, was it locally in the USA ?

Regards.

[fearn]

One thing that's bugging me is that the carvings on the club look fairly crude, perhaps copies rather than the real thing. While I don't think it's a fake as such, I wouldn't be surprised if a sailor (or even some planter's teenage son) was copying stuff he saw to pass the time and make a cool weapon for himself. If I'd had the materials lying around, I would have made something that looked like this when I was, oh, 15 or so.

F