Club ID

[Tim Simmons]

Many years ago I had an example of this club form only in a hard blond wood. I believed it to be from somewhere south pacific. I let it go in a swap. I now have this example. I have seen then listed as Solomon Island, in fact on a well know auction site and from a large European country, there is one said to be from Rennell Island at quite a cost. What makes me ask a question about this club is the fact it came with the leather loop which is too small for a lanyard. The leather is old and broke while I set about taking the pictures. Leather is not an oceanic material. I would associate leather material with Africa? It is possible that an old leather trade item was simply cut up and used to make a hanging loop where it was made or even by the previous or original collector. The two tone wood could just as much be Solomon Island as African? There is lime inlay which is a Solomon island thing. Any ideas?

[kronckew]

wood looks african, circular motif is fairly universal tho.

[colin henshaw]

Nice club. I've seen this type once or twice before, sometimes described as Hawaii or elsewhere Oceanic. My own feeling is that a South American source should be considered (Brazil/Guyana). That reddish wood and the concave element are indicators...

[Tim Simmons]

Thank you Colin. Now you mention South America, I think you are correct. In this Aputu the article.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=anthrotheses

Mention is made of belaying pin form clubs. Lime? like material is found as inlay on some South American clubs.

[kronckew]

just bought this one thru ebay. 17 3/4 in. long. billed as "Superb Vintage African Tribal Art Knobkerrie Throwing Club?".

more round circles with dotted centers.

the club pdf referenced above has a cryptic reference to belaying pin shaped clubs as applied to two in a photo that look completely unlike tim's and now mine.

[jaxonrice]

These staffs are definitely Southern or South East African. I've seen a few over the years.

My gut tells me I saw one of these in Situ amongst the Barotse (Lozi) tribe in the early nineties, but I was not taking photographs at the time and can not be sure.

I would think that these staffs are probably ceremonial in nature rather than throwing clubs due to the lack of damage or wear from throwing use that I've seen on any of them.

I've attached two pictures of similar staffs to this post. The first is from the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, where it's attributed to the Shona:
http://www.africamuseum.be/collections/browsecollections/humansciences/display_object?objectid=55811

The second one was being sold last year by Wallis & Wallis auction house in the UK, and was attributed as a Southern African knobkerrie.

[Tim Simmons]

Great sense at last.

[colin henshaw]

Excellent - another mystery solved !

[Sajen]

Today I've visited a friend who have a gallery with mostly Papua New Guinea stuff and he had exactly such a club lying around. I asked him about the origin and his answer was Renell Island.

Regards,
Detlef

[kronckew]

interesting. either african or rennel islands. i suspect rennel may be closer to the truth.

[Sajen]

interesting. either african or rennel islands. i suspect rennel may be closer to the truth.

My friend was very sure about his statement! ;)

[Tim Simmons]

Another one that will have to flare up now and again like toothache.

[kronckew]

argh! i've got a real toothache at the moment.

[jaxonrice]

I now suspect that this is a form that genuinely appears on two continents in slightly different guises, as I have seen quite a few of similar shape and form in Southern Africa.

Whilst not of exactly the same form, here is another similar example. The attached picture in this post is of a club that appeared at an auction house in Cape Town in 2013, attributed as a 19th century Zulu knobkerrie.

The example from my previous post which sits at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, was purchased from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. I highly doubt it originated in the Rennel Islands.

The circumpunct, or circle with a point at its centre, is also not a help with identification as it appears in so many diverse tribal cultures.

[Tim Simmons]

My feelings are for an African origin. It would be nice e to be really sure though?

[kronckew]

maybe a dna test? ;)

[Tim Simmons]

A cell test can be done on the wood but does cost and may not pin point the exact timber.

[kronckew]

we can probably set up a fund on the web and ask for donations. if they can get funding for studying the mating habits of walrus in the antarctic and penguins in the arctic, we'd be a shoo-in ;)

p.s - there are no walrus in the antarctic, nor penguins in the arctic.

[fireiceviper]

My friend was very sure about his statement! ;)

i saw a more stylized version of this one in a auction once, it was stylized more like a squid and also attributed to the Solomon islands.