War Club Kanak Tribe Phallus - Art Oceania New Caledonia - 19th Century Melanesia

Kanak Tribe War Club in the shape of a Phallus - Art Oceania New Caledonia - 19th Century Melanesia
Length: 94 cm!
Beautiful patina of use !!! FOA inscription
Very good condition

The club, or puzzle (its end is then offset, like a hammer), is used, as its name suggests, to get rid of enemies or to mimic aggression during dances in mourning ceremonies . Each Kanak had his club until the use of weapons was banned in the 19th century and they were massively confiscated, which explains their large number in museums. The club is an object of proximity, it never leaves the man, forming an integral part of his person. Its delicate manufacture requires great know-how. It is cut from the root of casuarina (a kind of filao), a heavy wood that is difficult to carve. A good club works only with its apparatus of magic plants enclosed along the handle with fiber or cotton ties. There is a whole typology of shapes depending on the regions and clans, the most common being the "bird's beak", "pickaxe" and above all "phallic" clubs, with tight or loose collars, straight or curved handles, whose obvious symbolism exalts the virility of the Kanak warrior.