Oceanic spear restoration
 

Found two bad condition Oceanic spears. Looking at them I thought I could make one good one out of the two. They have had years of sun, lots of damp so the binding, trade cotton thread, and native adhecive have rotted causing the loss of a few bamboo spikes. At the moment I am not sure of origin but they came with this rather loverly food bowl which could come from several Islands. I will post the before pics and reply with the after pics.

I have kept as much of the original binding as I could which is about half from top to the bottom of each binding. I was lucky to find some Chinese cotton thread of the same size and more importantly just the same simple twist to the thread. I could not find sun faded red and new red looked silly bright so I have used black. Taking a bamboo spike from the one that has lost its handle decoration. I have made a complete spear of the other. What you see now is all rather raw and the white bits are where my mixtures have yet to fully cure but I was in such a hurry to take pictures. You are never going to make it what it was. However it is restored in the same way it was made. Just needs some time to mellow.

Hi Tim

Coincidentally, I have something a bit similar. Wonder if they are harpoon points ?

The bowl in your post is from Southern Africa.

Thanks Colin I see it now. Indeed an "Ugqoko" small 29cm long but a nice old one. The spears are Oceanic? They could be a hunting or fish harpoon? Although quite light I would not want one thrust or thrown at me especially if all I had on was a string of shells or similar.

The way the barbs have been attached to the shaft is a bit similar to those on this fighting spear from the Solomon Islands (Melanesia)...

Regards.

YOU DID A GOOD JOB ON THE ONE SPEAR NOW YOU NEED TO RESTORE THE OTHER ONE THE BARBS SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM BUT BINDING THE DECORATIVE FIBER WILL TAKE A BIT MORE SKILL OR JUST APPLY A BIT OF STAIN TO THE AREA.