Interesting war club with cross cultural features

[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