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

War Club Kanak Tribe - Oceania Art New Caledonia - 19th Century Melanesia
Tribe: Kanak
Country: New Caledonia
Length: 61 cm!
Beautiful patina of use!!! Handle with fiber or cotton ties
Good condition (trace of use)

The club, or headache (its end is then offset, like a hammer), is used, as its name suggests, to get rid of enemies or to mime aggression during mourning ceremonial dances. 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 a nearby object, it never leaves the man, being an integral part of his person. Its delicate manufacture requires great know-how. It is carved from the root of the casuarina (a type of filao), a heavy wood that is difficult to carve. A good club only works 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 especially "phallic" clubs, with tight or loose collars, straight or curved handle, whose obvious symbolism exalts the virility of the Kanak warrior.