Solomon, Hawaiian or????

[Gavin Nugent]

Unusual club.

I bought this club (large one on the right) along with some others recently. I was quite taken by the size, age, weight, patina and honest wear to the piece. Whilst it has a Western Solomons feel to me, I can not actually pinpoint the region this piece came from. It might even be Hawaiian or another area of Polynesia .

The face is also a very nice aspect that appealed to me, not everyones 'cup of tea' though, dark voodoo apects and bound to frighten kids . It says to me that it is a protective charm with the eyes and mouth wide open, the sharpened teeth showing and that it is eating an arrow spells to me a powerful 'Come on, throw what you like at me, it aint going to work'.

I would be very interested to hear any thoughts to the origins or design elements of this example.

Gav