Another NZ Maori Wahaika club

kronckew · 4th April 2015, 12:55 AM

picked this one up on ebay today, looks more hand carved than most 'vintage' ones, patina looks older, square cut lanyard hole, grunge in the recesses, lack of added fancy carving. hopefully an older one. fibre lanyard looks new. bit larger than my others. 16 in. x 5 in. x 1 in. approx. - matai wood.

any comments appreciated. thanks in advance....

(vendor's pictures, the hand is holding it upside down, the striking side is opposite the tiki god, who looks over your shoulder to protect your back.

)

VANDOO · 5th April 2015, 06:01 AM

THE CARVING IS WELL DONE AND TRADITIONAL IN FORM AND THE SIZE FALLS INTO THE CORRECT RANGE. NICE GRAIN TO THE WOOD AND THEY EVEN WENT TO THE TROUBLE OF CARVING THE LANYARD HOLE SQUARE. IT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN HAND CARVED. ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO JUDGE AGE BY LOOKING AT PICTURES BUT AGE SHOULD BE APPARENT FROM LOOKING AT THE 3 HOLES AND PATINA AND WEAR. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A MODERN DRILL WAS USED ON ANY OF THE HOLES THAT WILL TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT ITS AGE. A NICE WELL MADE EXAMPLE REGARDLESS.

kronckew · 5th April 2015, 09:56 AM

yes, i've read elsewhere that they started using european style drill bits soon after the intrusion of the europeans, and also started acquiring muskets from them in the late 18c which they used against other tribes, at least until they all acquired muskets in the early 19c, and traditional weapons became obsolete. i gather clubs made after the 'musket wars' were pretty much ceremonial.

if mine were pre-contact, i could add a couple zeros and multiply by three the price i paid.

i suspect that at best it would be too new for that and would fall into the mid to late 19c-early 20th at best. one can however always hope.

kronckew · 8th April 2015, 01:13 PM

wahaika arrived. nice size, grip almost too small for me, but OK. slight wear/polish from lanyard on square hole with rounded corners, the three holes in the tiki are different sizes, carved down into the holes deeper on the left side, shallower on the other, the middle is quite round but not perfectly, two larger holes are slightly oval when you look thru them, the smaller hole behind the head is rounder looking.i used a super-bright white led light to look at the holes, the carving marks seem to go vertically down into the holes from both sides, rather than circumfrentially. do not look like the holes in my other wahaika which are generally very round w/o any carving down into the holes.

wood is darker on the blade, almost black in the carvings, and lighter on the grip where your fingers would wear it. couple minor surface scratches on the sides, dab od wax fixed that. no nicks, dings dents. nice grained wood, looks hand sanded/smoothed.

tiki is assymetrical. it's left hand/fingers wraps over it's belly, arm between the two lower holes. it' right hand grasps it's right leg, arm alongside the two holes, which have the wood carved much deeper between the holes, almost halfway thru.

16 in. LOA, 5 in. wide blade. grip about 1 1/8 in. dia.tpering down into the blade which is about 3/4 in. thick at the centre, tapering down to to the front edge from about 2 in. out. weight 424 grams, just under a pound weight.

4th April 2015, 12:55 AM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,186	Another NZ Maori Wahaika club picked this one up on ebay today, looks more hand carved than most 'vintage' ones, patina looks older, square cut lanyard hole, grunge in the recesses, lack of added fancy carving. hopefully an older one. fibre lanyard looks new. bit larger than my others. 16 in. x 5 in. x 1 in. approx. - matai wood. any comments appreciated. thanks in advance.... (vendor's pictures, the hand is holding it upside down, the striking side is opposite the tiki god, who looks over your shoulder to protect your back. ) Attached Images

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5th April 2015, 06:01 AM	#2
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	THE CARVING IS WELL DONE AND TRADITIONAL IN FORM AND THE SIZE FALLS INTO THE CORRECT RANGE. NICE GRAIN TO THE WOOD AND THEY EVEN WENT TO THE TROUBLE OF CARVING THE LANYARD HOLE SQUARE. IT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN HAND CARVED. ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO JUDGE AGE BY LOOKING AT PICTURES BUT AGE SHOULD BE APPARENT FROM LOOKING AT THE 3 HOLES AND PATINA AND WEAR. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A MODERN DRILL WAS USED ON ANY OF THE HOLES THAT WILL TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT ITS AGE. A NICE WELL MADE EXAMPLE REGARDLESS.

5th April 2015, 09:56 AM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,186	yes, i've read elsewhere that they started using european style drill bits soon after the intrusion of the europeans, and also started acquiring muskets from them in the late 18c which they used against other tribes, at least until they all acquired muskets in the early 19c, and traditional weapons became obsolete. i gather clubs made after the 'musket wars' were pretty much ceremonial. if mine were pre-contact, i could add a couple zeros and multiply by three the price i paid. i suspect that at best it would be too new for that and would fall into the mid to late 19c-early 20th at best. one can however always hope.

8th April 2015, 01:13 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,186	wahaika arrived. nice size, grip almost too small for me, but OK. slight wear/polish from lanyard on square hole with rounded corners, the three holes in the tiki are different sizes, carved down into the holes deeper on the left side, shallower on the other, the middle is quite round but not perfectly, two larger holes are slightly oval when you look thru them, the smaller hole behind the head is rounder looking.i used a super-bright white led light to look at the holes, the carving marks seem to go vertically down into the holes from both sides, rather than circumfrentially. do not look like the holes in my other wahaika which are generally very round w/o any carving down into the holes. wood is darker on the blade, almost black in the carvings, and lighter on the grip where your fingers would wear it. couple minor surface scratches on the sides, dab od wax fixed that. no nicks, dings dents. nice grained wood, looks hand sanded/smoothed. tiki is assymetrical. it's left hand/fingers wraps over it's belly, arm between the two lower holes. it' right hand grasps it's right leg, arm alongside the two holes, which have the wood carved much deeper between the holes, almost halfway thru. 16 in. LOA, 5 in. wide blade. grip about 1 1/8 in. dia.tpering down into the blade which is about 3/4 in. thick at the centre, tapering down to to the front edge from about 2 in. out. weight 424 grams, just under a pound weight.