Cylindrical wood club probably from Tonga, with carved panels enclosing a zig-zag pattern on all surfaces. There is a thin incised line curving around the club from the mid-point to the head. On the head end of the club, panels are interspersed with carved guns, men holding guns or gun-shapes, one man standing with arms akimbo, half-moons, axes, spearheads or leaf shapes and a western-sytle two-masted sailing ship. On the handle end of the club, there are thin vertical retangles at regular intervals. The head of the club is convex and also has zig zag carvings, while the end of the handle is uncarved. Clubs of this kind were carried as signs of rank and status by men, and were used in hand-to-hand combat.
clubs (weapons)
wood (plant material)
Polynesian
Club
Original to Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),
E47,138
FD139
Unknown
Pacific Island Group
2 1/4 (diameter) (inches)
Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation
2006.44.1487
Possibly Fiji
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